Last weekend, we had the pleasure of participating in our first-ever bridal show – The Wedding Show by Forever Bridal. It was actually a bit of a last minute decision to participate in the show. Given that most of our business is out-of-state though, we felt it would be a great opportunity to meet some local brides and vendors.

We decided to participate in the show right at the tail end of our website redesign and just before the madness of the holidays hit! Determined to finish the website before the new year, we worked many long hours in order to get the site to the point at which we could launch it – leaving us with less than a week to finalize the booth design and complete the construction of it. Needless to say, there was plenty of work to be done before the show. Fortunately, we’re pretty handy around here and things came together in the end – but not without a little grunt work and some much appreciated help from friends and family.

In the photo above you can see Glenwood chamfering the edge of a shelf with a hand plane. Along with a hand plane, he packed quite a few other tools that definitely came in handy while installing the booth.  Below are images of the completed booth just before it was time to break it down. Both of our neighboring booths had already been dismantled at this point.

Overall, we were really happy with the outcome of the completed booth. Unfortunately, we had to nix our lighting plan due to time constraints, but we will definitely add some lighting should we do another show in the future. As far as the show itself, the first day was a little slow due to the fact that it was New Year’s Day, but we definitely had a good time on Sunday with all the people that stopped by to check things out. We hope you had a great time as well if you attended the show!

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It is an unfortunate fact of life that mistakes happen; and when it comes to weddings – the less mistakes the better.   The simple act of proofreading is one very important step in the creation of your invitations.  When done properly, it can save you from many headaches at the end of the day.  Unfortunately though, I think this is a step that is not always taken seriously.  As the designer, I may catch typos along the way, but I certainly won’t be able to tell if your mother’s name is spelled correctly or if the location of your venue is accurate.  Nope – making sure of all these tiny details is the responsibility of the client.  However, we certainly don’t want to leave you in the dark, so here is a bit of advice on the subject:

• Don’t go it alone:  Make sure to ask several other people to proofread for you.  They will often catch things that you might have overlooked.
• Have a hard copy in hand:  Make sure to print a copy out and take a break from the computer.
• Read it backwards:  This method keeps your brain from expecting to see what it has been used to looking at – in turn making it easier to catch mistakes.
• Read it out loud:  Yes, you heard me right.  Pretend you are back in school and reading to the class.  Again, this method will slow you down a bit and point out mistakes you may have otherwise overlooked.
• Take a break:  Sometimes it is best to leave something alone for a while.  Whether it’s for an hour or twenty-four hours – it should help you get a fresh perspective.
• Don’t depend on the spell-check feature:  Yes, use it.  Just realize it will not catch everything.  Will it realize that you accidentally listed your brother Mike as your sister?  Um… not so much.
• Beware of all-caps:  Look over text that is in all-caps more carefully as it may be harder to catch mistakes.
• Focus on specifics:  Proofread several times, each time focusing on a different thing such as spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc.
• Be alert and minimize distractions:  Enough said.

Along with the above tips, here is a list of specific things you should double check while proofreading your invitations:

• Names:  Check the spelling of all names such as the Bride, Groom, Mothers, Fathers, Venues, etc.
• Times:  Check that all times are correctly listed and be sure the time is properly designated as a.m. or p.m.
• Dates:  Double check the date of the wedding, as well as the RSVP date.  Be sure the day of the week that is listed corresponds with the numerical date.
• Locations:  Again, check the spelling of the locations.  Also, be sure all directions and addresses are listed correctly.
• Abbreviations:  Make sure they are listed correctly and are followed by periods as needed.
• Consistency:  Pick a method and stick with it.  Be sure that all capitalization, punctuation, etc. is consistent throughout your invitation suite, or at least consistent on one item.
• Commonly confused words:  Be sure to check for these common mix-ups  – to/too, there/their/they’re, your/you’re, desert/dessert, etc.

For the record:

Number of typos discovered upon proofreading this entry: 7

Number of those typos discovered by spell-check:  3

Number of typos that will be discovered, and consequently edited after this entry is posted:  still to be determined

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Phew… long title but don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.  When a big event is around the corner, it is hard not to constantly check the weather.  In my case, it is not an approaching wedding.  Instead, we are just trying to take a short break and head out of town for a bit.  Over just a few days, the forecast has gone from it’s totally going to rain on you to just a slight chance of rain as of the last time I checked.  Between Weather.com (10-day forecasts available) and AccuWeather.com (15-day forecasts available), I’m feeling a bit stressed out.  I think I need to hold off on checking the weather for a while and just set my mind to the fact that we are leaving no matter what.

I will mention that Weather.com has some interesting features, such as a wedding planner section as well as a way to check the fall foilage across the country.  In case your wedding is still months away, you can always head on over to the Farmer’s Almanac as well.  But beware of checking too often and stressing yourself out, for as the Farmer’s Almanac so thoughtfully reminds it visitors, “It is obvious that neither we nor anyone else has as yet gained sufficient insight into the mysteries of the universe to predict weather long-range with anything resembling total accuracy.”  Hmm… I think that just said it all.

Just in case you are curious as to why I am currently obsessed with checking the weather, here is a glimpse of what we plan to be doing with our few days off.  No computers.  No internet connection.  No television.  No news.  And, brace yourself… all cellphones turned off.  (Notice to Glenwood:  this is company policy as of today, please take note.)

Do we have a backup plan?  Well, the parents don’t live too far away from where we will be staying…  so maybe I should give them a call.

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And what tradition would that be? The one that involves saving the top tier of your wedding cake and pulling it out of the freezer to eat on your first anniversary. Alright, so I’ve read many mixed opinions on this – and yes, maybe it is questionable, and yes, it may end up tasting horrible, but I wasn’t going to let this stop me.

Unfortunately though, our first anniversary has already come and gone and we found ourselves estranged from our cake. My mom however arrived last week for a visit and with her she brought the cake. The cake is officially a little over a year old, and still frozen, but seriously – it’s chocolate. I really don’t think I can pass it up.

On that note I will describe the cake experience at our wedding. I love chocolate, so there was never any doubt that this would be the flavor. I also had visions of a simple cake covered in fondant icing. I was soon turned away from fondant, and am I ever grateful. We actually stumbled upon our cake when planning our rehearsal dinner with the owner of Withers Hardware Restaurant. It was dessert selection time and when a flourless chocolate cake was mentioned I was all “pretty please, oh could I please try some?” One bite later and it was determined that no, this could not be served at the rehearsal dinner for it had to be the wedding cake. I quickly realized that fondant is nothing compared to a chocolate frosting and ganache. I do realize that not everyone loves chocolate as much as I do, and some people are unfortunately allergic to it. For this reason we had two cakes. We also included an Italian Cream Cake which was just as awesome as the chocolate, just in a different way. So, on our wedding day we had two cakes – identical in shape and size except that one was brown and one was white. Both, in my opinion, were delicious.

We still have yet to thaw the cake out and try a bite… but I’ll keep you posted when we do. Either way, I’m dying to get back to that restaurant and order some fresh cake!

Below you will find a bit of advice on how best to freeze your cake if you choose to do so:

- don’t forget to remove any large ornaments, flowers, etc. (hey, you never know!)

- place the cake in the freezer or refrigerator just long enough for the icing to firm up

- if it is sitting on cardboard, do not wrap this with the cake unless you first wrap it separately in plastic wrap or foil

- tightly wrap the entire piece of cake in plastic wrap (the more the better)

- you can then use foil over the plastic wrap if you wish

- place the wrapped cake in a container and completely wrap the container in plastic wrap making sure to seal all the edges

- it is best to complete this process as soon after the wedding as possible

- when you are ready to thaw it, first remove the plastic

- thaw slowly – a couple of hours in the refrigerator first, then let it rest for a couple more hours at room temperature

- dig in – and hope it still tastes good!

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