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.

To be honest, we've never met someone involved in a wedding who isn't a little stressed about etiquette.  There are classes and books available, but they're not for everyone.  We recently came across the Mr. Manners' Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life podcast.  This is a free podcast offering very general etiquette tips in short audio files.  You can listen online, or subscribe and listen via your iPod or whatever.  This podcast is also available via iTunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=203228276.  You can now brush up on your etiquette on your own schedule!

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.

To mark Veteran's Day last week, One Enchanted Evening in nearby Wexford, PA gave away gowns to military brides.  Gowns normally retailing for hundreds or thousands of dollars were sold for zilch.  If you missed it, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had a front-page article in the Nov. 11 issue (available online at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06315/737545-85.stm).  We thought they deserved a shout-out.

Something we've seen at a few weddings this year are photobooks used a guestbooks.  These photobooks are compiled by the couple, featuring some of their favorite photos and plenty of space for guests to write on the pages.  One great place to create a custom photo album is Shutterfly.  You can upload your digital photos, or send them your film.  Then, you can design your album yourself, picking page layouts and which photos go on each page.  It's very simple, and makes a great keepsake (especially with all the good wishes from your wedding guests).  They variety of book types and colors, including wedding-specific styles, so be sure to look around a bit.

If you visit our shop, you can actually see one of these books.  We've been a Shutterfly customer for years, almost every photo you see in our albums was printed by Shutterfly.  Our albums are so heavily used that we recently made a special photobook featuring our favorite bouquets.  Not only do our bouquets look great, but we receive a number of compliments of how nice the book itself is.  The photo below is one of their samples, very similar to the one we created for our shop.

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/.

For many years, we recommended Linda Clifford of Clifford Keepsakes for wedding bouquet preservation.  We came to know her through a number of bridal shows, and the good service and quality work she provided.  This year, we've had complaints from three of our brides that they have been unable to reach Linda for quite some time, and are concerned about their bouquets.  We've attempted to call Linda, but her business phone is not being answered.  We are shocked and disappointed that her service has taken such a dramatic turn, and we'll continue to try and contact Linda to resolve any outstanding issues.  We hope this is a simple oversight on her part, but right now we have no idea what's up.  We deeply apologize to anyone who's been inconvenienced through our recommendation.

Our featured bouquet for October, 2006 is a beautiful hand tied bouquet made with Mango mini calla lilies, Leonidas roses, Freedom red roses, Circus bi-color roses, hypericum and seeded eucalyptis.  You don't need to look too hard to see how the colors in this bouquet match the colors of the season!  Click the photo for a larger view.