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.

And now, something from the groom’s perspective. Mike Adamchik is a writer in the Bay Area who recounts his transision from bachelorhood to married man on his blog "Hitched: My last year as a bachelor...".  In addition to essays he’s written, Mike also answers submitted to his Ask Groomzilla section.  We make no guarantees as to the usefulness of any advice.

Something we’ve seen at many weddings lately is small bottles of asti spumanti, sometimes with homemade labels celebrating the bride and groom.  Along the same idea, but also a great idea to bring some local flavor to your reception, check out local wineries.  Many of them produce the small bottles, and some may even provide custom labels for your event.  It’s also very common (especially here in Pennsylvania) for couples to arrange for their own bar and tending services, adding local wines to your bar would give your reception both an exotic and local flavor.

We have a wedding at one local winery very soon—La Casa Narcisi Winery in Gibsonia, PA.  In addition to their wines, wineries also can be picturesque locations for showers, ceremonies and receptions.  We’ve also had the occasion to try several of the wines from nearby Rustic Acres Winery (right here in Butler), and they were very good.  If you’re not a fan of traditional wines, fruit wines or blends may be more your style, and local wineries will usually have a better selection of these than your typical wine store.  Local vintners can also work with you to pair the proper wine with your meal choices for the perfect meal.

If you’re unsure about choosing a wine, find a winery nearby and attend a tasting.  There, you’ll be able to sample various wines and learn about each one.  Here in Pennsylvania, you can find local wineries at http://www.pennsylvaniawine.com/.  We here around Pittsburgh are in the Pittsburgh Countryside region, with at least a dozen wineries close by. 

If you’ve had a good experience with a local winery or their wines, let us know.  Also, if you’re a local winery, please feel free to leave a comment below describing what you have for weddings and events.

Anyone who wants a meal at the reception should RSVP, especially if you need a special meal choice (for instance, vegetarian).  Vey often the person counting the meals is not the bride or groom, and may not think to count the wedding party.   If you don’t send your RSVP in, you mighe get overlooked in a late rush at the end.

In a previous post, we mentioned that golf courses make good locations for wedding receptions.  We recently did a wedding at the nearby Butler Country Club, which features a beautifully manicured course, with one picturesque water hazard a short stroll from the main banquet hall; the view from the banquet hall’s veranda overlooks this hole of a thousand Kodak moments.  If your photographer finds out about the water, willows and rustic bridge, make sure someone grabs you some cookies.  You might be taking photos for a while.

Inside, to accomodate the large bridal party, the head table was set at two levels, with the higher level raised on a stage.  The projection screen was used to show a video tribute to the new couple.  A centerpiece was placed at each end of the lower table.

BCC’s usually elegant table settings were enhanced with floor length satin tablecovers, with sheer overlays trimmed by ivory toile, and satin chaircovers that were tied onto the chairs by knotting their corners.  The knots in this case were symbolic of the couple “tying the knot”.  These linens were provided (and tables dressed) by the bride, but as part of your wedding planning, we can help you arrange linens such as these.  From a distance, our stands almost disappear, giving the impression the candles and flowers are floating above the tables.

 

Below is a close-up of the centerpieces we made, containing two dozen white roses, 8–10 heads of white hydrangea, and 10 stems of spray roses, plus white petals around the base.  Four votive candles encircle the top of the stand, and eight more were placed on the table.  These stands are made from heavy gauge wire, and are very stable on a table, even when supporting heavy floral pieces.  The open design allows guests at opposite sides of the table to interact, and when the lights are dimmed and the candles lit, the flowers appear to float above the tables.  You can rent the stands and votive cups from us, and the flowers are made in removable dishes so your guests can easily take them home.

The wedding cake was a very non-traditional shape, and included floral pieces made from white hydrangea, lavendar and white roses, white spray roses and mixed greens.  The staircase and fountain were provided by Penny Bestwick, the cake baker.  White and lavendar rose petals and votive candles rounded out the table decoration.  The ivy-draped columns are part of our colonnade, which was set up around the cake table.

Non-members can hold functions at Butler Country Club, but you must be sponsored by a member of the club.

We all know that golf courses make great locations for wedding receptions.  They usually have ample parking, large banquet rooms, liquor licenses, and on-site kitchens.  Plus, golf courses have picturesque areas that make great locations for your wedding photos.  One of the newest courses in our area is Oakview Golf Club in Slippery Rock, PA.  Oakview was formerly the private Armco Golf Course, but has been remodeled and opened to the public.  Oakview’s spacious ballroom overlooks the serpentine 17th hole.

Our recent wedding there featured pink pots with bows (supplied by the bride), which we filled with white carnations.  The entire wedding was chocolate and pink, and the tables featured fanciful pink polka-dot runners and pink napkins.

While there, we ran into our friend Autumn Bupp of Autumn’s Cakes.  She was adding the pink flowers to the chocolate-frosted wedding cake (the cake itself was white, and featured a coconut and chocolate chip filling-YUM!).

Autumn has been so busy with her cake business that she’s been referring brides looking for cookies to Cookies by Rachel, down in Pittsburgh.  In addition to cookies, Rachel is also an event planner, specializing in weddings and corporate events.

If you ordered stickr seals with your wedding invitations, you traditionally place them on the back of the envelope, so the center of the seal is right at the point of the flap.  In the days before envelopes with the glue already applied, not to mention stickers, this is the location wax was dripped and stamped with some sort of monogram or motif to hold the envelope closed.  In many cases these days, stickers have replaced wax seals, but wax seals are sometimes still used on formal wedding invitations, just for that Victorian look.

For our first Featured Location, we want to share a beautiful rustic barn just north of Pittsburgh.  Betsy's Barn is part of Cheeseman Farm (warning: site plays music), located just off I-79 and Rt. 19 in Portersville, PA.  Betsy’s Barn is an authentic post barn, located amongst green fields and rolling hills.  In the photo below, a bar/buffet tent has been set up outside the barn.

The other side of Betsy’s Barn features a gazebo for relaxing, or in the case of our recent wedding, a place for a small ceremony.

Inside the barn, our bride wanted an elegant yet rustic look.  She attained the elegant part with floor linens, chair covers and sashes and fan-folded linen napkins. 

Her centerpieces were placed on squares of green gingham fabric and featured white hydrangea loosely arranged in mason jars (decorated with a handmade apple cutout), accented with small baskets of apples.  To help keep our bride’s costs down, we simply provided buckets of loose hydrangea, and she and her helpers assembled the centerpieces when they set up other parts of her reception.

For this wedding, Betsy’s antique buggy held a chapel-shaped card box.  In a previous wedding, this same buggy was the candy buggy.

The head table was arranged in a U-shape, and featured the same green gingham runners as the guest table centerpieces. 

In the middle of the U was a stunning cake fondant cake decorated with gum-paste flowers from Carol’s Cakes in Ambridge, PA (warning: site plays music).  We could smell this cake when we were taking the close-up photos of the head table, and it smelled wonderful!

Head table arrangements were made in small crates, and featured white hydrangea, pink roses, green hypericum and red and green apples.  In front of the couple was a larger arrangement, while two smaller ones were in front of the bridal party.

The bridesmaid bouquets wwere hand-tied arrangements made of white hydrangea and green hypericum berries.

The bridal bouquet was a hand-tied arrangement made from the same white hydrangea, green hypericum and pink roses as in the head table arrangements.

 

 

If you’re having an outdoor wedding, one way to add a lot of decoration at a reasonable price is to use hanging baskets.  Early in the summer, retail baskets are usually small so they’ll last through the summer.  Late in the summer, you may have trouble finding baskets you like, and retail baskets may be strung out.  You could buy your own baskets at the beginning of the season, but then you’re left to care for a large number of hanging baskets—you’ll need to protect them from summer storms, water and fertilize them, and be sure to trim the plants as they grow so the baskets are lush and full for your wedding day.  That’s a lot of work if you don’t have the right facilities!

One option some local growers (such as Crighton’s Florist & Greenhouses in Prospect, PA) offer is to custom grow hanging baskets for your wedding.  Professional growers will keep your baskets safely in their greenhouses, using a proper water and fertilizer mix for lush growth.  Professional growers know how to trim back the vines and faded flowers (remember that each plant variety has a different flowering cycle) to ensure the plants are in fill bloom for your special day.  The baskets in the photo below are some of the 20 being grown for an August wedding at Butler Country Club.  These particular baskets will feature white petunias, white bacopa, sweet potato vine, as well as some other grasses and vines in a cocoa lined basket.  There is such a variety of colors of plants that can be used in hanging baskets that almost any color scheme could be matched or complemented.  Work with the grower early in your planning so ensure the best selection of plants and the timing of your baskets.

After your reception is over, the hanging baskets could be given away to your guests (as with centerpieces), or could be used as gifts for your bridal party and parents.