Henne Jewelers would like to say thank you, with a $15,000 diamond ring.

The store, a Shadyside institution, had a rough January. First, a gunman held up the store in daylight, and then burglars rammed an SUV through the front doors at night and stole items. The damage totaled about $20,000.

"That happened within a week of each other," said co-owner John Henne, whose great-grandfather founded the business 123 years ago. "But it was remarkable, the outpouring from the community. We had people coming in saying, 'I want to buy something because of what happened.'

"There was so much support, we thought this would be a real neat way to thank the community."

Henne will do so May 22 with its Diamond Dash treasure hunt, a contest in which teams answer trivia questions, race from one clue to another, and hope to win a $15,000 Mark Patterson diamond ring.

"It's gorgeous," Henne said about the 1.5-karat diamond ring, on display in the store's showroom. "There was just a couple here ooh-ing and aah-ing over it. It's a very special ring."

Full story at http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_678872.html

We recently found an online service that helps you find and book local photographers for your wedding, event, modeling portfolio or whatever.  Snapm is a mix of professional and amateur photographers, so prices, styles and capabilities vary, but most have a portfolio on the site and links to their other work.

Full story at http://snapm.com/

(hat tip: Lifehacker)

Want to rent a photo booth for your wedding, but don’t like the cost?  Check out a new software app called Party Booth:

Party Booth simulates a classic photo booth producing a vertical 4-photo strip. The application features a fullscreen mode that converts any computer with a webcam into a photo booth kiosk. All the photos are saved to disk with option to upload to photo sharing services. All you need is a computer and webcam.

There are options to print the photos using a classic photo booth layout, and you can customize the borders with your own wording and images.

Full story at http://www.partyboothapp.com/

TLC’s Cake Boss is coming to Pittsburgh! 

Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010

Time: 9am-noon (Market District, Bethel Park)
2-3pm (Market District, Robinson)

Full info at http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/s_660790.html.

In today’s Parade Magazine, one of their Unexpected Food Trends reminded us of a blog post we’ve been meaning to write for a while now.  Here’s the trend:

Many brides and grooms are skipping tiered wedding cakes in favor of childhood favorites like cupcakes. "Red velvet and chocolate are most popular," says Patty Rothman, owner of More Cupcakes in Chicago. Meanwhile, Brooklyn-based baker Sarah Magid says her biggest request is an organic spin on another childhood staple: Twinkies. "I also have made silver-dusted Ring-A-Dings," she says. Other sweets such as doughnuts and s'mores are popping up on wedding buffets, too. And some couples say, "I do" to Cracker Jacks and lollipops. Talk about happy endings.

( http://www.parade.com/food/slideshows/unexpected-food-trends.html?index=2)

We read this as we nibbled on a gourmet cupcake from Mimi’s Bake Shoppe in Cranberry Township.  Something we've needed in the North Hills area has finally arrived--a gourmet bakery!  We first met the folks from Mimi's at several bridal shows, and enjoyed their cake samples.  A lot.  Their wedding cakes are delicious.  Mimi's is a good as anyone at making your basic wedding cake, but where they truly excel is in the artistic cakes.  You can check out their photo gallery for samples of their work.

Mimi’s creates their cupcakes in a dizzying array of flavors.  So many flavors, in fact, their “Flavor of the Day” is really five or six.  You can check out their Flavor of the Day calendar so you know when to stop in and try some of your favorites (hint: their cherry cola is scary good).

Another trend we’ve seen that Mimi’s also does well is custom cookies you can use as seating cards.  These cookies also double as favors, and are customized with your guest’s names.

Mimi’s is easy to find, they’re located in the little plaza on Route 228 across from Quaker Steak and Lube and Uno Chicago Grill.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recently published an article about how couples are saving money and still having great weddings.

Look for ways to recycle flowers, which can cost $2,000 on average. Maybe you can take flowers from the ceremony and turn them into centerpieces.

Great advice, and we see this often.  Altar pieces become buffet or entry decor, and unity candle arrangements become head table centerpieces.

In some churches, the altar flowers are considered a gift to the church, and cannot be removed, while other churches and ceremony locations don't have this rule.  Most of our brides arrange to have a family member or good friend move the flowers after the ceremony.  We can also be hired for move the flowers.

Another idea is to use your bridal and bridesmaid bouquets as decor on the head table.  For a really cool effect, we make greenery pillows you set your bouquets on, or for a cheaper option, we rent vases you can use to hold the bouquets and return the following week.

Consider using cheaper flowers like carnations and baby's breath, rather than roses.

More good advice, especially in arrangements that are some distance from the guests.  Even in your bouquet, we can substitute a number of less expensive flowers to give you the same look and feel at a lower cost.

Consider having your wedding any day other than Saturday, or during an off-season month like January, in order to save about 20 percent.

For the most part, your savings will come from the reception.  Flowers aren't really cheaper on other days.

One final piece of advice not mentioned in this article--opt for simpler designs, and a smaller variety of designs.  The main cost of your flowers is the labor to create them, not the actual flowers.  By choosing simpler designs of similar or the same style, you can greatly reduce the labor cost to make your flowers.

Rea the full article at Couples cut costs and still have great weddings.  And, check out one of our tips for saving money on your centerpieces.

This weekend, July 31 to Aug 2, 2009, Lydia's Place will be holding a benefit bridal dress and gown sale:

Lydia's Place, a nonprofit agency Downtown that helps incarcerated women and their children rebuild their lives, is collecting for its bridal and formal dresses sale, a fundraiser that will take place at The Mall at Robinson from Friday through Sunday. The sale is aimed at brides and their families who are looking to reduce costs or who want an environmentally sensitive wedding.

…

"People are very generous," said Ms. Sirockman. So far her organization has received about 800 items, including bridal gowns, flower girl dresses, mother-of-the-bride dresses, bridesmaid dresses and prom dresses.

source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09210/987019-53.stm

For some time now, couples have put disposable cameras on their guests' tables, the guests would take photos, and leave the cameras behind.  Couples would develop the cameras and have candid photos and memories from their receptions.

Recently, fewer and fewer couples have been doing this, partly as a move to save expenses, and partly because so many guests are bringing higher quality digital cameras and giving photos to the couple on a CD.

Enter The Wedding Lens.  As they describe themselves:

The Wedding Lens allows you to create a customized online wedding album filled with photos from you and your guests. Everyone uploads their photos into one online album that is only accessible by you and your friends. From there, you can download and print whichever photos you like – regardless of who uploaded them to the album.

It's a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to have the equivalent of disposable cameras on each table. But it’s even better because you don’t have to print blurry photos and everyone (not just the bride and groom) get to see all of the fabulous photos from the event.

When you register, you get a customized domain name, which you email to your guests.  Your guests then upload their photos to your album.  The Wedding Lens stresses your guests do not need to register, all they need is the web address, their email address and password.  You and your guests can then upload as many photos as you want, and all guests can see and comment on photos in your album.  You and your guests can download the photos you want to keep, or have them all burned to DVD.

If you're trying to decide to place cameras on your guest tables or not, maybe you should consider The Wedding Lens.

P.S.  If you're the lovely bride planning her wedding we talked to at the Airport Doubletree today, this is the blog post we promised you.

One wedding industry tracking group calculates the average wedding cost in 2009 was slightly under $22,000, not including the honeymoon or rings.

In a recent Post-Gazette article reporting how brides are planning smaller and less expensive weddings, our pal Herman Heyl helps make a point we've wanted to for a while:

Brides are opting to use more greenery and less expensive flowers, such as daisies and carnations. Smaller bouquets might save a little on price because fewer flowers are used, but the charge for labor is nearly the same as for a larger bouquet.

One great way to save money on your wedding centerpieces is to buy your own glassware and apply your own elbow grease.  If you're lucky enough to live near an Ikea, that's a great place to get inexpensive glassware, such as the rectangular vase below (much of their glassware is also available online at http://ikea.com):

One of our recent brides did just that--she purchased her own glassware, and some ribbon, and decorated the vases herself.  We then made simple arrangements of white hydrangea, orange spray roses and green hypericum berries, and delivered the final piece to the reception site, Greystone Fields.

Working together, we were able to create an elegant centerpiece that fill well within her budget.

Not every florist is cool with the idea of brides supplying glassware, so you may have to ask a couple to find one willing to work with you.  Remember to buy and decorate a few extra vases, just in case.

If you're a fan of hydrangea, you need to check out Hydrangea World, a site dedicated to hydrangea.  Hydrangea World is filled with photos of stunning arrangements, information about the different varieties, and photos of the different colors of hydrangea.  You and your florist can use this information as a guide when planning your wedding or event.

Hydrangea World is produced by the Flower Council of Holland, and has more of a European vibe than South American, where a great deal of hydrangea are also produced.

Come see us at the Days Inn Butler 2009 Winter Bridal Show, Feb 22, 2009 from 12pm to 4pm.

More info at http://www.daysinnbutler.com/contact_us.

The historic Mountain View Inn & Conference Center on Route 30 in Westmoreland County will close at the end of the week.

An employee said today a press release was being prepared outlining the decision, and he referred further questions to owner Vance Booher, who was not immediately available for comment. The reservations center for the 89-room inn, opened in 1924, was accepting no requests for rooms beyond Saturday night.

Brides and events planners who had reserved future dates at Mountain View began scrambling in recent days to rearrange their affairs.

"The phone has been ringing off the hook booking business," said Steve Mitchell, general manager of the Four Points by Sheraton in Greensburg. "We're receiving phone calls from brides and other clients that were tentatively booked there, or booked there, and that were informed they're closing."

The hotel midway between Latrobe and Greensburg has been in the Booher family since 1940. It has handled 100 weddings a year in the past.

Reposted from http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09021/943515-100.stm.  Updates as we find more.

Last year, we covered WeddingMapper.com, a free service where you can create online wedding maps for your guests.

If printed maps are more your style, idoweddingmaps.com might be more what you're looking for.  idoweddingmaps.com offers four styles of maps, which you create online by filling out some information about you and your event.  You can choose to have a PDF e-mailed to you, or have your maps printed and sent to you to include in the invitation.

We recently attended a wedding where the map was created on idoweddingmaps.com, and it was very clear and attractive, and printed on good quality paper.

A recently married couple (not one of ours) was the butt of a lot of jokes on the morning radio shows yesterday:

According to a criminal complaint, the Wielechowskis had just checked into the Holiday Inn-McKnight Road in Ross and were ready to enter their room on the seventh floor when they began arguing.

Dr. Wielechowski "then used a karate-style kick with his leg to kick Christa, knocking her to the floor," the complaint reads.

Upon hearing her screams, two guests of the hotel who had been attending another wedding reception ran to Mrs. Wielechowski's aid. But when they attempted to restrain Dr. Wielechowski, he began fighting the would-be rescuers only to have Mrs. Wielechowski "turn against [them] and also begin to assault them," according to the complaint.

(full story at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08119/877164-52.stm)

And also in newspaper articles

Marriage consultants and relationship therapists will speculate about the Wielechowskis' marriage. Is reconciliation possible, or do they bite the bullet and put boxing promoter Don King on retainer?

(article at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08120/877372-153.stm)

But seriously, domestic violence is no laughing matter, and we hope that if you're in a relationship, you seek out help to end the cycle.  Too many people convince themselves their partner will change once they're married, or after the child arrives, but usually things only grow worse and worse.  There are people who will help and protect you if you're in a violent situation.  It will take an incredible amount of bravery to get out of the relationship, but in the long run, it's the best thing you can do.

We're not sure if this couple was overcome by the stress of the day, or if this is more of the same in their relationship (and apparently they have been under a considerable amount lately, see http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08120/877410-85.stm), but we wish them all the best.

The Butler Days Inn will hold their Winter Bridal Extravaganza on Feb. 17, 2008.  Once again, The Bloomery will be there with all sorts of sample bouquets, photo albums, invitations and accessories.

There isn't any information on their website, but you can contact them at 724-287-6761 x262.  Their site is http://www.daysinnbutler.com/.

Brides getting married in Oakland, PA this year, remember the Boulevard of the Allies bridge is now closed, resulting in serious roundabout detours.  As your wedding day draws closer, be sure to check detour maps--you may need to hand out a modified one at your ceremony!

Popular affected venues include Heinz Chapel, St. Paul's Cathedral, Phipps Conservatory, The Carnegie Museum and the popular photo sites around Pitt and CMU campuses.

Full story at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07347/841299-53.stm.

Thanks to Cyndy Meyer for pointing this out!

Are you trying to plan a bachelorette party, or shower, and need an online site to plan, organize and invite?  Microsoft recently launched Windows Live Events, a free service with the features you need:

Invite guests, add events directly to your preferred calendar software, or share post-party photos and blogs at Windows Live Events, Microsoft's foray into the online event planning field. In addition to standard online invitation features seen at Evite and other spots, Live Events allows the anticipated weather for an event to be displayed, along with pictures and maps chosen by the host. Live Events requires a Windows Live sign-up to use and can pull contacts from Hotmail accounts, but allows syncing through iCal, Google, and Yahoo calendars, along with Outlook.

This is certainly not an acceptable way to invite your guests to your wedding, but may fit the bill for organizing the less formal aspects of your wedding.

(hat tip: Lifehacker)

In response to one of the most stressful events in life, The Professor's House has opened up a new advice and relation section to combat the pre-wedding woes. For all about to be wives, husbands, in-laws, friends, and family, the new Wedding Information ( http://www.professorshouse.com/family/relationships/relationships-weddings.aspx ) section is a relief and a welcome resource for those in the throes of marital vows.

To help engaged couples and their family and friends deal with the long list of potential stressful issues that are likely to erupt, the website known for its commitment to life enhancement has launched their new section with stress reduction as its key focus. All under one quaint roof, engaged couples and their family members and friends can seek out advice and get down to earth useable information no matter what type of wedding information they are seeking.

"How awesome to have so much advice in one place. Every time I think I have all my ducks in their row," exclaims Georgia Houston of Hampton, "I find new questions and concerns, usually at three in the morning. Having an abundance of information in one place makes it easier to find out how others have handled the stress and even had fun at their own wedding!"

The details of an upcoming wedding are exhausting. There are churches or places of worship or outdoor locations to secure for the day. You need to find someone to marry you. People need wedding dresses, mother of bride dresses and bridesmaid dresses. There is a honeymoon to plan. There are details involving food, reception, drinks or the lack thereof, and of course, all the special festivities that go along with creating a very special occasion for a very special day. Nobody makes it through this time without a little help. And the more help that can be piled on, the better. That's why resources such as The Professor's House Wedding Information Section is so vital to reducing stress and making the big day all about the wedded couple instead of failed details. Sometimes, the only thing a future bride really needs is to laugh at the understanding that everyone has a crazy wedding story, and hers will seem just as funny some day.

Thankfully, resources such as this are out there, making a real dent in the stress of wedded bliss. By simply utilizing one solid resource, future brides, grooms and their friends and family can significantly reduce the expected stress levels and make the process of getting married much more enjoyable for everyone.

According to the Conde Nast Bridal Group, December is the most popular time for marriage proposals (and, we're guessing, acceptances).

Being a very agricultural state, farm and barn weddings are popular in our semi-rural area.  Lancaster Farming recently published an article titled Ceremony in a Field, Reception in a Barn, where they provide some tips for a farm wedding:

There are many considerations to think about when you consider having an on-farm wedding, and Good suggested a few, such as what are the fields going to look like in the background, will the pond get muddy if it rains and how will road traffic affect the wedding? “Even the animals,” said Good, are considerations, such as dogs barking or cats strolling across the tables?”

...

For couples considering a farm wedding, “every little detail that you do makes a difference,” advised Good. “You don’t have to go overboard — just urns with greenery in it or little touches — people notice that.”

One creative feature was the old chicken feeder that became a holder for guests’ table place cards. The feeder was filled with soil and grass, then held the “flowers” (made of a painted stick and with a paper daisy at the top) with the guests’ names and table numbers.

Lancaster is on the other side of the state from us, but here in western Pennsylvania there are a number of sites available for barn weddings.  Two close by are Betsy's Barn in Portersville, PA and Armstrong Farms Bed & Breakfast in Saxonburg, PA.  We've done a number of weddings at both, and the families at each farm are easy to work with and very accommodating, and the farms are beautiful.  Betsy's Barn was one of our featured locations last year--you can see their page at http://www.bloomeryweddings.com/blog/FeaturedLocationBetsysBarnPortersvillePA.aspx.

The Wedding Fanatic recently posted 22 Questions You MUST Ask Your Florist, Musicians, and Transporation Company.  It's actually 22 questions in total, not 22 for each vendor.  We're happy to answer the florist questions below:

Can we please see your portfolio?

You're looking at part of it!  In addition to our online photo galleries of bridal bouquets, centerpieces, etc., at http://bloomeryweddings.com/wedding_flowers.asp, we feature a more in-depth look at the wedding work we do here on our blog.  The categories on the right include Featured Bouquets and Featured Locations, with many examples of our work.  In the photo galleries, if the item code starts with "BW", we made it.  We also have several photo albums of our work in the shop, and some additional ideas books you can browse.

When will the flowers for our event arrives?

We typically deliver your flowers to the church (or ceremonly location) two hours before your wedding, as allowed by the location.  Many locations have tight schedules, and we can only get in with 90 minutes to spare.  If we are setting up a reception location as well, we will coordinate with that location to work on their schedule, while ensuring your flowers are the freshest possible.  Different flowers in your centerpieces also determine when we can do the final setup.  Tulips, for instance, can't be delivered too far ahead, but roses are usually fine if we drop them off several hours before the reception.  If you need flowers to be delivered to your home or other location for photography, we can arrange that.

Is there a delivery fee?

Yes, and the fee depends on where we're going and what we need to do.  You'll know the exact charge when we send you your contract.  Depending on what you have ordered, pick-up is an option--many of our brides with small floral needs do this.

Do you distribute and pin on flowers?

If you need us there, let us know at your consultation.  There is a labor fee for this service, but many photographers recommend having us there, since it makes the process much easier.  We do label corsages and boutonnieres, and ask you provide us with the name of the person to receive it.  Otherwise, we just label them "organist" or "bride's grandfather".  Corsages and boutonnieres are packed separately for easy handling.

Will you be doing any other weddings that day?

Many times we do, it all depends on the size of the weddings and the order in which they are booked.  We only take as many weddings as we can handle, and we keep careful watch on sizes so we don't overextend ourselves.  We have done as few as one, and as many as six, in a single day.  We have four designers, some of whom may double as delivery/setup for your wedding.

Have you ever done an event at our venue?

Very probably.  We are one of the largest wedding florists in the Butler/Pittsburgh area.  If necessary, we will scope out the locations ahead of time, and take photographs of the areas you want to decorate.

We hope we've answered these questions to your satisfaction, but if you have any additional questions, please call us at 724-285-1711, or e-mail us at info@bloomery.com.

Create your free wedding countdown clock, which you can embed in e-mail, use in your forum signature, or add to your wedding webiste.  Choose from a number of different designs, completely free from When Is My Wedding.  A sample countdown is below.

For a different style of countdowns, have a look at Daisy Path's free wedding announcements.  Instead of a countdown, these are more of a timeline to your wedding day.  You choose from several different timeline styles (such as the sunflower below), one of three markers (such as the doves below), then add some text and even a small image of your own.  These also can be used in e-mail, or forum sigs, etc.

Did we miss any?  Please let us know in the comments!

Powered by ScribeFire.

The definition of a mixed marriage in many cases refers to the mixing of dogs and cats in the same household:

LuAnn Verbosky, off-site adoption manager for the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania in East Liberty, says that many cat-vs.-dog conflicts with couples are solved by challenging misconceptions about canines and felines. Some people think all cats are aloof and reclusive, for instance, while many cats, in fact, are very affectionate. Other people might think all dogs are hyperactive and overwhelming, while many are calm and mellow.

Usually, mixed-pet households work out fine, says Verbosky, who often sees happy couples come back to rave about their adoption of a cat or dog, after one person was reluctant.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review printed two very similar articles at http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_521987.html and http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_522082.html.

YouTube is good for more than just water-skiing squirrells and teenagers embarassing themselves (but who can get enough of either, really).  More and more florists are using YouTube to show off their wedding work.  Some videos are better than others, but you're not hiring these folks for your wedding video anyway.  There are some amazing designs shown in these videos.  If you're lucky, some of these great florists are in your area.  We'll try to keep a running list here until it becomes overwhelming.

Here are a few to start with:

Avante Gardens of Anaheim, CA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7ulaBIDOzI
Datura of Middletown, CT - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4sNfe0WgCs
Kebbie Hollingsworth - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioQBVdLZFPs
Stephanie's Flowerhaus - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56e5Aa4JcMo
Mitchell's of Orland Park, IL - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr2t5De-Nbw
Everyday Flowers of Tustin, CA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9MIfd6okG0

Here are some which show the creation of wedding and event flowers:

Everyday Flowers of Tustin, CA - http://youtube.com/watch?v=LMPTJfcs_ww
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3fFXB6EFN5Y

Besides the flowers (of course!), one of the most important parts of your wedding is your photographer.  Your photographer will capture your special moments and preserve your memories of your wedding day.

In recent years, there has been a strong trend away from set, formal portraits to more of a photojournalistic style, with casual portraits and more candid photos.  It's not a style every photographer can pull off, since it takes a lot of creative vision and an ability to work with you, the couple.

Wading through portfolio after portfolio can be time consuming and uncomfortable, since usually you can only see a lot of photographers at a wedding show.  To help you narrow your search, the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association has compiled a state-by-state search of its members.  In addition to contact information, you can view the photographs which gained them entrance into the Guild.  Guild members are some of the best photographers out there, which means they're not the cheapest, and they book quickly.

2008 brides, mark your calendars--the Butler Days Inn 2007 Fall Bridal Extravaganza will be Sep. 16, 2007.  As always, we'll be there with some incredible fresh bouquets, the latest accessories, and trendy invitations.

More information will be posted at http://www.daysinnbutler.com/Weddings/BridalShow/tabid/66/Default.aspx soon.

According to the Bridal Association of America, in 2006:

• the typical bride spent $1,505 on a dress
• brides spent an additional $274 for a veil and another $333 on various accessories
• brides also spent $1,970 on flowers

The BAA estimates the average 2007 wedding will cost $27,710.

The outdoor wedding reception and party season is here, and that means afternoons looking for something cool.  We recently found the coolest of all somethings--an ice cream sundae bar!  Featuring homemade ice cream and hand made waffle cone bowls (colored to match your wedding or event), Kaliedo Kone Creamery serves up delicious and cool treats to your guests.  We recently had a chance to sample some of their ice cream, and it was very good.  If the ice cream and waffle cone bowls aren't enough, your guests can add one or all of a dozen toppings to their sundae.  Yum!

Shown below is Kaliedo Kone's toppings bar, featuring chopped peanuts, sprinkles, hot fudge, butterscotch, cherries and more!  Click the photo for a larger view.  Their services also include an ice cream cart and uniformed staff member to scoop the ice cream.

You can contact Kaliedo Kone Creamery at 724-368-3119, or kaliedokone@earthlink.net.

This database is for California grown flowers only.  The South American, African, Dutch or Anzac markets may have different availabilities, and flowers which are out of season in California may be in season from other areas.  It's good to work with a florist who is familiar with worldwide availability if you're looking for a very special flower.

If you're a cake lover, May is going to be a very sweet month for you!  Both Warren Brown, owner of CakeLove and host of Food Network's "Sugar Rush", and Duff Goldman, owner of Charm City Cakes and profiled in Food Network's "Ace of Cakes" series, are both coming to Pittsburgh.

[Warren Brown] will bring his cake-making prowess to Pittsburgh on May 5, appearing at Ross Park Mall as part of Simon SuperChefs Live!, a tour billed as a "daylong celebration of food."

Hosted by Marc Silverstein of the Food Network, the event from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. also will feature local chefs in a cooking competition, cooking demonstrations, food and beverage sampling, autographs and cookbook sales. Admission is free.

Mr. Brown will stir it up with demonstrations of how to make buttercream (around 1 p.m.) and vanilla cake batter (around 3 p.m.), extolling the crowd to extinguish any fear of baking from scratch.

Full story at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07116/780978-34.stm.

Coming to the Pittsburgh area for public appearances in May is another maker of cakes -- actually, the "Ace of Cakes" from that Food Network show, Duff Goldman.

..

Check out Duff Goldman at one of his Giant Eagle Market District store appearances on May 19:

* 10 a.m. to noon at Shadyside (5550 Centre Ave.)
* 2 to 4 p.m. at Bethel Park (South Hills Village Square Mall).

Full story at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07116/780948-34.stm.

We were in the Oakmont Bakery the other day, and we noticed something new in their case--gourmet cupcakes!  The gourmet cupcake trend has hit Pittsburgh full force, with the opening of Dozen Cupcakes in Shadyside, and now Oakmont's creations (shown below).  Oakmont has long been one of Pittsburgh's favorite wedding cake bakers, and it looks like now they'll be part of the cupcake wedding cake trend as well.

Of course, we had to bring some home.  Starting at high noon and going clockwise, we had an Orange Creamsicle, a Pretty Woman (white cake with strawberry filling, complete with chocolate covered strawberry), Double Trouble (chocolate frosting and chocolate cake), Parrot Head (lime filling and white cake), and Elvis (peanut butter icing with banana filling in yellow cake).  Yum!  Now, off to the treadmill...

For years, the wedding books from the John Henry company have been favorites for brides seeking ideas.  This year, John Henry has a brand new Wedding Flower Style book, filled with some of the trendiest ideas and designs.  John Henry's prom guide made a big splash at last year's prom season (you can see the designs on our site at http://www.bloomery.com/promgallery.htm), and their new wedding book continues the trend.

We're the first shop in our area to have this book, and we'll bring it to the Butler Days Inn 2007 Winter Bridal Extravaganza.  If you want to look at chic bridal bouquets and upcoming wedding trends, be sure to attend the show and flip through our idea books, as well as our portfolio.

About two months ago, the New York Times published an article with 15 questions couple should ask before getting married.  Included are questions regarding health history, children, financial goals and having a TV in the bedroom.

Read the full article at Questions Couples Should Ask (Or Wish They Had) Before Marrying.

WeddingMapper.com is a new Google Maps mashup which you can use to map out the locations for your wedding.  From their website:

Wedding Mapper was built to make it fun, easy, and affordable for you to map out your wedding, ensuring that your guests have all the information they need in order to have a great time at your wedding.

We wanted to make it as easy as possible to build and share your wedding map, with a simple interface, both a map view and a list view, easy printing, and the ability to include your map in your wedding website.

The free maps display ads from Google, or you can pay $9.95 for an ad-free map.  This is a new service from the folks who brought you Community Walk, a service to map out all the cool spots in your local area.

hat tip: Lifehacker

The Butler Days Inn will hold its Winter Bridal Extravaganza on Feb 18, 2007 from noon to 3pm, and a fashion show starting at 3pm.  This is a huge event each year, attracting over 70 vendors and hundreds of brides (with door prizes for the first brides to check in).  This may be the only bridal show we attend, so it's a great chance to come see and talk to use outside of a regular appointment.  Check out http://daysinnbutler.com/ for more details.

We've had a number of posts on making unique seating charts for your wedding, but this is the first on actually planning who sits where.  A new website named SimpleSeating.com is a free (for up to 50 guests) on-line tool for you to design your seating layout, and

SimpleSeating.com is the fastest and easiest way to make seating charts online. Experience the power of expensive desktop seating chart applications on the web without the learning curve. Create, preview, and print your seating charts in just a few simple steps.

We can't comment on its ease of use, since everyone has a different definition of "easy".  But it's tough to go wrong with a drag an drop interface.  If you're in need of a seating chart for any reason, check out SimpleSeating.com at http://www.simpleseating.com/.

(hat tip: Lifehacker)

We love baked goods, and are happy to report another bakery coming soon.  We recently received the following e-mail:

Dear Bloomery,

I am the owner of Dozen Cupcakes, a cupcake cafe opening in Squirrel Hill this December. We currently available for catering weddings and bridal showers. Made popular by Sex and the City and Oprah, cupcake trees are the latest trend in wedding cake options. A unique and elegant alternative to the traditional cake, more and more brides are choosing cupcakes because of ther practicality and uniqueness. Cupcakes can be easily customized to suite the wedding parties tastes.

I hope you will consider recommending us to your clients. And please take a second to view our website at www.dozencupcakes.com

Sincerely,
James Gray
Dozen cupcakes Owner

We checked out their website, and they have some delicious looking cupcakes.  We hope to cross paths with them sometime in the future.  Yum!  If you're interested in a trendy cupcake wedding cake, Dozen Cupcakes seems like a place to check out.

Imagine having your wedding in a beautifully restored building from 1906.  The Grand Ballroom at Cornerstone Commons features 16-foot high ceilings, carved oak trim and gold leafed details.  Located at the corner of Main and Cunningham, the building was most recently the home of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce.  It was purchased two years ago and has undergone extensive renovations.  The Grand Ballroom is on the third floor, and the large windows provide views of Main street and the surrounding areas.  If you've ever seen Butler decorated for the winter holidays, you'll know these views will be treasures.

For more information (as well as some photos), visit http://www.cornerstoneballroom.com/.

Here's one way to really set your wedding apart--you can make your own paper.  Your paper could be used for programs, or invitations, or even place cards.  This isn't something you would want to do on a very large scale, but the results would be very dramatic and unique.  It doesn't look that hard, but it will take some time to make enough for your purposes.  You can see the process at http://flickr.com/photos/bzedan/sets/967347/.

(Hat tip: Lifehacker)

Diann Valentine is the wedding planner to the stars, known for her unique and personalized weddings.  To put it simply, she plans some seriously hoity-toity celebrations.  Diann has planned weddings all over the country, for celebrities such as Toni Braxton, Kelis and Lela Rochon.  You may have seen some of her events on Entertainment Tonight and in O: The Oprah Magazine.

You can find some of Diann’s secrets in her new book, Weddings Valentine Style: Rich Inspirations fo Every Woman's Dream Day.  Diann’s style is to pretty much do away with tradition, ignore the bridal magazines, and tailor the wedding specifically to yourselves.  That’s a sentiment we certainly endorse.  Every couple we’ve worked with has their own story—how they met, became engaged, the little things they do to keep each other amused and happy.  There’s no reason to discard any of that on your wedding day.

If you’re looking for tips in planning a completely personalized wedding, check out Diann’s book.  Then give us a call at The Bloomery—we’d love to work with you.

Want a few insider secrets for choosing your wedding flowers?  We shared a few with By-area writer Mike Adamcik, in his recent post "Interviews: Floral and funna …".  He's right, that's a terrible pun.

The interview's been up for a couple of days, but since we're on the beach at Hilton Head Island right now, we're a little behind in our blogging.

Scott Adams, the guy who draws the Dilbert comic strip, is getting married.  And he’s blogging about it.  Almost as a follow-up to our Stick to the List post, Scott talks about actually creating the wedding registry:

One of the curses of wedding planning is the whole gift-giving dilemma. This is especially acute for people like my fiancée and me because for us, all material goods fall into one of these categories.

1. Already have it
2. Don’t need it
3. Too expensive for a gift
4. What the hell is it?

Also in the planning stages now are the wedding favors:

Apparently the point of the wedding favors is to avoid embarrassing ourselves in front of the Pope or Martha Stewart or whoever else we invited. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any of my friends or family that would judge us by the quality of the wedding favors, as in “I kind of liked them until the whole bottle-opener-with-a-bow incident.”

And although the next statement starts another thought about wedding favors, it’s a sentiment a lot of grooms-to-be can apply to a lot of the wedding planning process:

My theory – already judged unhelpful...

Guys, raise your hand if you've been there.  That's a lot of hands.

What's one of the major mistakes couples make when planning their wedding reception?  Forgetting their guests at their wedding reception.  Sure, nearly everyone remembers the guest list, the seating chart, the champagne toast, etc., but we're talking about something more fundamental.  Planners at the reception halls call it "bride worship", and it's the overriding notion that "this day is all about me".  That's very true, your guests are coming to celebrate your new union.  But they are your guests, and it's your responsibility to plan for their comfort.  Sometimes it means not choosing your favorite dish as the main course, but something more guests are likely to enjoy.  If you're having having your reception in a location that doesn't have many (such as outdoors or a private home), will there be enough bathrooms, changing stations, or places to relax?  Do any of your dishes contain allergans, such as peanuts, that might send a guest to the hospital?

Couples who haven't planned a dinner party are more likely to overlook some of this.  We're not talking about a "come over, hang out, and we'll order some pizza" party, but one where you plan and prepare the meals and entertainment.  If you haven't planned a party like this, it might make a good dry-run for your reception to do so.  Perhaps have both sets of parents over at one house, and the both of you pland and prepare the meals.

In the end, it is your day--a celebration of you--but it is also your responsbility to ensure the comfort of those who celebrate with you.  Congratulations, and have fun!