The Parent Trap II

Gosh, I didn't realize that so many more questions regarding dealing with divorced parents would come in... so this might go on for a few more days. We've been flooded with questions, and we'd love to help, so keep them coming!Today we'll talk about receiving lines.Problem:: "Both of my fiance's parents and my parents have divorced and then have remarried - there are just so many people to keep track up it will make you dizzy! Help me with who stands in the receiving line to greet guests?"Solution:: Well, first, you don't have to do a receiving line, it does take up a bit of time, and as long as you calculate that into your timeline, and know...

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The Parent Trap

Recently we've received many questions in regards to dealing with divorced parents, as if wedding planning and etiquette weren't tricky enough, right!I know that you have some dilemmas, and I want to help you with your questions. Over the next few days I'll take your heated problems that seem to be causing you quite the drama, and give you some clever solutions to the sticky issues that you are facing.Let's figure out how to handle things before the wedding, and discuss your decisions with your parents. We know every family's dynamics are different, so feel free to improvise and let us be your sounding board, comment away with suggestions as...

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Raising The Bar

So often, as we get closer to the wedding the client starts to wonder just how much people will drink at their wedding. For a few reasons, either they are buying the Adult Libations and need to figure out how much, or their venue charges per drink, and they aren't sure how much it'll cost and how to budget.... or, or, or.There are several books that explain this, and lots of Booze Calculators online, but here's a nice breakdown for 100 guests at a reception. Just a generalization to get you where you need to go, and the cost should be roughly, including soda's and mixer's about $800 - and remember you can return unopened bottles after the wedding!Alcohol...

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Blogging Brides!

More on Amy L.!I am a pretty easy-going bride-to-be. I don't get stressed out too easily. I love every part of planning a wedding. I didn't think one second of the year engagement would be stressful for me. But...a few weeks into my engagement, I discovered that I had no clue what to do as far as bridesmaids! As long as I've been planning my wedding in my head (since I was about 9), I imagined I would have somewhere between 4 and 6 bridesmaids. Isn't that perfect? Isn't that how many everyone has? Isn't that how it is in the movies? Well, when I got engaged, and started realistically thinking about it, there was no way I could have between 4...

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Cake + Truffles = Heaven in my Mouth!!!

Okay, so most of you know that I love to cook and bake, and I love to cook and bake gourmet style, right? Well, I do! And most of the things that I eat, I always think, aw shucks, I can do that! Or this would be so much better with a touch of this. Or why should I buy that when I can just make that...Basically, I am a food snob... I fully admit it.But this time... I tried... and I tried, but I couldn't do it.I've made delicious chocolate truffles, melt-in-your-mouth-amazing-truffles, and I've made some incredibly-moist-delicious-cakes, and I've even made Cake Truffles... and those were pretty darned good!But when Kathy called me and told me she...

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Gator Week!

Why not make a great end to the week with more Gator Boards for Brittany and Bryan's Wedding! This one was done by Sharilyn in our office - she was just featured on Be A Planner!What do you think of her amazing Gator - Orange and Blue Board, so pretty and fun, right!?!? And believe it or not, there is still more to come!!!Sourc...

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The Gators at their Best!

I've mentioned we are planning an Orange and Blue Wedding, and Albert and Alberta will be the Best Man and Maid of Honor... and then I saw this and thought, welllll we might need to get them more involved! Who would have thunk ...

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Let's Go Inspiration... Let's Go!

For a while now, I've been toying with creating an inspiration board for our boys... our boys being The Florida Football Team. The Florida Gators.But Orange and Blue just haven't singed to me as wedding colors. Then we met Brittany and Bryan. They are having a small intimate wedding, with Albert and Alberta being the maid of honor and best man! How fun right!That meant it was certainly time to play with the colors and the feel. We are all working on a board... this is Jeana's, what do you think? We are all working on boards, so there are more to come....Sources: The Knot, Style Me Pretty, The Knot, Caroline Johnson Photography, The...

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Blogging Brides!

Name: Amy L.Location: Southern CaliforniaBlog: Amy K LynchWedding Date: June 27th, 2009What do you do in real life? I am a student in a intensive Dental Hygiene Program! Favorite Part about Planning your Wedding? One of my favorite parts about planning my wedding is that it is for me! Every decision is made based on my specific taste. I get to pick my favorite colors, my favorite flowers, my favorite ideas, my favorite looks, etc. But my absolute favorite part about planning my wedding is knowing that in less than 10 months, I get to marry my best friend. I am looking forward to being married to Danny, more than I am looking forward to the wedding...

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Unique Contest!!!

One of our favorie Blogs, is having an awesome contest! I don't even know why I'm telling you about this, because frankly, I want to win!!! But they've extended the deadline!But, everyone deserves a fair chance!So check it out!!!What are you waiting for.....Go there.... n...

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Posh Blog!

One of our favorite cake bakers has started a blog! You met her and saw her super fun work when she was part of Cake Week, and now you can keep an eye on Posh Pastry all on your own!Check out Posh Pastry's, Posh Bl...

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Let's Eat Cake Update!

4 months!4 months to go!Holy Cow! Times flies!! Let's Eat Cake! is only 4 months away!!! We are currently offering a super duper fantastical deal, if you donate $1, that's less than that coffee you got at Starbucks this morning... to Let's Eat Cake! (which will in turn go right to St. Jude Children's Reseach Hospital) we'll send you a Christmas Card... (for every $1, you get a Christmas Card...)Please help these kids, they need your help! We need your help to reach our goal...

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Pink and Mango!

We are working on the funnest wedding EVER! Lindsay and Steve are getting married on November 1st, and their colors are Pink and Mango, so we've been playing with inspiration boards for them for a while, and the more we learn about them, the more we play...What do you think of New Intern Jana's board for their fun wedding? I love it, but I am thinking it's not quite them...Hmmmm... maybe we should play some more?And don't worry, there are more Lindsay and Steve boards to come!!!Sour...

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Budget Bride's Ideas!

Things are tight all round right now, money is getting tighter, and if you watch the stock market ticker, you are probably dizzy by now!I've noticed that brides are starting to cut back on things - and there are smart ways to cut back, and not so smart ways to cut back... How difficult is it to make cuts to your budget?That depends on how much you need to cut - and what you are willing to cut back on. The obvious choice is to cut back on the number of guests, because if you are paying $60 per person and cut 50 people from your guest list, that's $3000.But what if cutting guests isn't an option. Scale back, more affordable linens, more affordable...

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Blogging Brides!

So far in Blogging Brides, this has to be my favorite story! I think some of the best stories are always the ones that you can fully relate to, and are true... so with out further ado, Amy F. and her story of the bewbies!first of all, i am so excited to be a part of the blogger brides series for melissa at "adventures in wedding planning." thank you for having me and creating a social network for all of us overzealous brides!{keeping the girls happy}soon after i bought my strapless wedding dress, i knew i needed a bewbie-lifter and a tummy tucker. i hoped to accomplish this by purchasing a corset. so, i saw one posted online and bought it! i...

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Letterpress Love!

As I am sure you already know, MasterPiece Weddings, loves Letterpress, we actually love all things paper, but Letterpress is something that we literally drool over.So when a care package came from our friends at Erickson Designs, informing us that they have started a new division Lambert Letterpress, I literally jumped up and down!The stock is unbelievable! {Their business cards are seriously thick, are made of lettra, so they are tree free!!!} The designs are like nothing I've ever seen before, the details... well, let's just say we are swooning over them!I'll take some pictures of the samples that they sent me, and show you, they are...

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The Man Flower

Here at MasterPiece Weddings, we are always looking for ways to make the men more schnazzy, and when I saw this photograph posted from EAD, I thought I was in love!What a beautiful boutineer, so fun and classy, and uniq...

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Get Certified!

MasterPiece Certified is now enrolling for our November course! We are so excited about our next class coming up! This class will run Monday through Friday at our offices, and we'd love to include you!This the most inclusive Certification course approved through the DOE! You'll learn everything you need to know about being a wedding planner, starting a business, and much, more! We'll have guest speakers, learn to start a business, work with brides, how to network, and much much more!Please send me an email to melissa {at} masterpieceweddings {dot} net for more information, and to see if you qualify for a discounted tuiti...

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Bake a Cake! III

Okay, so know you know my inspiration, and what the client wanted. You know I am not a professional cake baker, never promised to be, it's just something I do for Harrison, cuz he's so darned cute! And you know how many tools I've used to make this cake.... now for the decorations!Sunflowers, Purple Flowers and Rocks:The rest of the bugs- just waiting to get involved:Proof I actually worked on this cake:One of the cute Marzipan Catepillers:More proof I actually made this cake:Now it's time to start decorating: (that's a pile of royal icing ants on the counter)I think we did okay.... we'll put the rest on at Harrison's Party....Harrison's 4 candle...

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Tagged!

I was tagged, again... I was tagged by Stary-Eyed Bride and Bespoke. This one's kind of fun! (sorry for not being able to do this right away, things have been crazy buzy!)4 Things I Did Today: 1. Put together a contract for a bride.2. Called a ceremony venue and used my Jedi mind trick to convince them to have a ceremony there.3. Prayed.4. Met with a bride who still has lots to do for her March Wedding.4 Things On My To-Do list:1. Make a bazillion phone calls.2. Call back prospective interns.3. Go see Nights in Roadanthe.4. Finish Harrison’s Birthday Cake(Bonus #5 – I have to get the mailing list together for Let’s Eat Cake! Potential sponsors)4...

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Bake a Cake! II

WOW! Was this a process, but it's so nice to have friends in the business, Kathy from KB, helped me so much, with advice and teaching me to make the bugs, loaning me supplies... her time... really a God Send!!! So I documented the process. A Month long Process....Supplies - rods to make sure the top layer doesn't collapse into the bottom layer:Beating the Oreo's for the Frosting:Oreo Cookies and Cream Frosting:Harrison had requested, Chocolate Cake on the Bottom and Vanilla Cake on the Top - So I made Chocolate Fudge Butter Cake, and Bourbon Vanilla Butter Cake with Oreo Cookies and Cream Filling.My husband handling the manual labor, aka using...

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Blogging Brides!

Name: Amy F.Location: Live/Work: San Francisco, CA - Wedding Location: Nashville, TNBlog: with the pixie grin Wedding Date: May 30, 2009What do you do in real life? I am a Webmaster for a popular search engine. But what I really want to be is a Registered Nurse...shhh!Favorite Part about Planning your Wedding?My personal style has always been a private thing for me...planning our wedding has allowed me to share concepts & ideas with friends and family without feeling self-conscious about it. It has helped me to embrace this woman I have become. I really like that. Least Favorite Part about Planning your Wedding?With everything I do, I really...

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Bake a Cake!

There is a new trend, brides attempting to make, design, bake their own wedding cakes. To me this is would be met with disasterous results! However, I have always made a birthday cake for our bestest friends son, Harrison, you've seen his picture on this blog before. Well this weekend was Harrison's 4th birthday, and I took my task very seriously. It was the first time Harrison could really have some say in his cake. He wanted Bugs. Specific Bugs.Harrison's Demands:RocksDirtAntsDragonfliesBee'sLady BugsSunflowers Purple FlowersGrassLeavesWormsPhew! Was I in for it, or what!!! So I started a sketch, a 2 layer cake, and let him tell me what he...

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MasterPiece Weddings, did it!

So, I've been listening... and listening... and we finally took the plunge. MasterPiece Wedding is finally on Facebook!So if you'd like to be my friend, let me know! I'm having a blast, so many people have told me about Facebook, and I don't think I got it - but it's seriously, like crack!Come on over and say ...

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So Much to do...

So much to do and so little time. I know that when you are planning a wedding - you start to think at one point, "Why am I doing this... we should just elope!?!?!"Eloping is for some people - but if you've already starting the planning, and it's just the stress that's starting to bother you- first determine what that stressor is, and face it. Determine why it's bothering you and what you can do about it.Is it money?Is your guest list out of control?Is your family driving you crazy?Are you over loaded on ideas?Once you know the source of your panic you can deal with it. Let's say it is your budget - money is always the main stessor. Maybe...

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Debate Tonight!

It doesn't matter who you are voting for, Vermont Teddy Bear makes sure we are all on the same side... the side of cute!Check out these Biden and Palin Bears! She even has a hockey stick in ha...

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