#TemptationTuesday - "Natural Elements"

This week's ‪#‎TemptationTuesday‬ design brings a new design feature to the table, natural elements. As you can guess, this design must have had a budget with it's own zip code! They spent a fortune on these centerpiece trees and other high end decor.

Let's bring it down to a more reasonable budget that we can work with!

For that WOW factor and natural element, use Manzanita Branches as your centerpieces. They can be purchased in bulk online, but before you put them in your shopping cart, make sure the website you're buying them from has chemically treated them for insect prevention. How horrible would that be! Alot of unwanted guests would be coming for dinner!!!

Manzanita Branches can be placed as stand alones on the table, potted, or weighed down in a vase. When I made that Wishing Tree in 2012, I potted them and weighed them down with floral styrofoam & clear marbles. If you're a DIYer, then do what's best for your budget. But why bother, hire a decorator like us to do it for you!

The rest of the design can be fulfilled with just one wave of our magic wand..making all your dreams come true! We've got Ivory chair sashes, crystal candle holders, and silver chargers! And we love to create floral arrangements and menu cards!

Contact us today! http://www.mysimpleelegance.com/#!contact/c24vq

#TemptationTuesday - "David Tutera"

This week's ‪#‎TemptationTuesday‬ design is from the fabulous David Tutera. We might have viewed this design briefly in the past because we absolutely adore it, but never as a #TemptationTuesday feature. So let's get to work on how you can achieve it for your wedding, at a price you can afford!

First, this design screams Simple Elegance!!! How else can all of the design elements come together fast, inexpensively, and with just one vendor???

Okay so last week we talked about the pros & cons of having a tented event. Tented weddings are always gorgeous, but come with a heavy price tag. If your venue is doing a tented wedding for you, great! If it's been a wish of yours for forever, then we know a rental company who can make a tent happen for you, and we're happy to help you plan the logistics. But if your wallet just can't hang with the big boys, then have no fear....our Arch and Fabric are here! LMBO!

First, rent our durable Ceremony Arch. We'll set it up for you, then decorate it with beautiful fabric to replicate this design. In fact, we have everything you'll need to get this design-on-a-dime!
Rent our Pillars, our small Unity Candle Table, Uplighting and Chair Sashes! Then hire us to create beautiful rose balls using amazing silk flowers that are a fraction of the cost of live flowers; but look just as fabulous!

It's just that simple! Check out our website at http://www.mysimpleelegance.com to see all we have to offer. We really are a one-stop-shop wedding service!

The Joys and Pains of Tented Weddings

Tents range in size and style; and in function. If you're planning a ceremony outside and fear the weather, tents can be erected to serve as temporary cover. They can also be used to prevent the elements from getting into the appetizers being served during your cocktail hour. And last, tents can be so large that they have to be built to house a room full of guests; dance floor included!

The pros and cons of using Tents:

Pros:
Instant allure! Your guests will be giddy from the anticipation of walking into a tent. Its a unique location usually decorated with nothing but the best. Very high class, very luxurious.
Allows you the benefit of having your wedding anywhere you want. As long as there's level ground, you can have a tent!
Its not some out of date banquet hall room. When you rent a tent, you usually have a budget that allows you the ability to bring in anything and everything you want. A tent is basically an empty canvas, awaiting your masterpiece to come alive.

Cons:
Renting tents is very expensive depending upon how large your reception is going to be. Because they range in size and style, tents could cost you anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
And after you've spent the money to rent the tent, you have to furnish it! Everything must be brought in...tables, chairs, lighting, dinnerware, generators, decorations, draping, dance floor, and even restrooms! So tented weddings are not readily affordable unless your budget is well over the $50,000 mark.
Tents take time to be installed, anywhere from a few hours for smaller set ups; to 12 plus hours for more elaborate designs! Then once installed, set aside atleast a few more hours for teardown. Crazy!!!
Extreme weather conditions also are a factor. High winds and lightning are not your best friends when it comes to tents.


So in closing, tents are crazy, sexy, cool...yet pricey, labor intensive, and potentially dangerous if not installed properly. Evaluate your budget and the type of guests that are attending. Make sure a tented wedding are right for you and them!

#TemptationTuesday - "Pretty In Pink"

Its time to quench your thirst on how to get this pretty in pink design for your wedding or next celebration.

Okay so as you all know by now, I focus on budget and design-on-a-dime tactics to maximize dollars and decor. And although the ghost chairs and table in this design are amazing....they are just not economically feasible to rent at $10.00 and up per chair, if you're on a budget! I usually try not to dowse a bride's dream, but if she's on a budget, forego the ghost chairs and tables...we can make whatever the venue has work!

On to the positive! This is what we CAN do in this design! We can ask the venue to set up in the trendy family style seating. We can recreate the acrylic box that acts as the table runner in this design. As your decorator, I would have you purchase acrylic boxes in bulk at wholesale prices or select the acrylic cube boxes that are sold at your local craft store depending upon your budget, and fill them with gemstones and LED floralytes to match your wedding colors. I would line the tables with them and surround them with our square glass vases; filled with gorgeous white silk flowers.

Then you can also rent our stemmed tealight candle holders that are an exact match to those in the design. Substitute the clear glass charger plates and rent our silver chargers, and you just scored a professional design for less than you would have expected!

Put the final touches on this design by asking your Cake Vendor to make mini naked cakes for each of your guests. Wait, haven't you heard????? Not only are mini cakes a trend, because they save on wasted cake and guests feel like you've personalized the cakes just for them; but a newer hotter trend are NAKED cakes!

Yes, naked cakes! Basically a naked cake is an unfrosted cake. The layers are put together using a little frosting, but the entire outside of the cake is left untouched. The cake topper or flowers decorate the outside for an elegant finish.

So in short, you can achieve this design by renting from Simple Elegance, and by hiring a fabulous Cake Vendor! We happen to know a few, give us a call! http://www.mysimpleelegance.com/

Design On A Dime Series - Preston Bailey #4

Next up on tweaking celebrity planner Preston Bailey's designs for a working man's budget...is this simply lovely white and gold tablescape.

Our crystal candle holders and our excellent decorating and floral arranging skills! Done!

http://www.mysimpleelegance.com/

Design On A Dime Series - Square Vases

Our square vases, LED floralytes, and again, our work with silk flowers! What?!
http://www.mysimpleelegance.com/
Nuff said.

Design On A Dime Series - Preston Bailey #3

Busy day, alot I want to share, but first....

Still on my Preston Bailey kick....here's another one of his ceremony designs that is simply to die for! I can't even imagine how much this couple spent on flowers!

How can us average joes replicate it? Well there's no way on a mid-sized budget that you can exactly duplicate a flower ceiling....but you could do a huge flower wall as your back drop for your altar. And using silk flowers will help cut costs even more!

It's not Preston, but it will do!

#TemptationTuesday - "Preston Bailey"

This week we're tweaking the millionaire-esque design of celeb planner Preston Bailey to suit your average joe size bank account. As always, I'll show you how you can get a champagne wedding on a beer budget! So let's get to it!

So the one word that comes to mind when I look at this design is: Drama! Talk about making a dramatic entrance! Not you...your guests! Not only do you use fabulous decor for your ceremony site to WOW your guests, but you should keep the WOW factor going when they walk into the reception site.

In the design, the guests walk passed a beautifully decorated staircase landing, then up the steps to obtain their escort cards. Here's what you can do to tweak that concept for your budget. Standard reception halls will provide a table for your escort cards, but you can increase the drama by requesting multiple tables, in various sizes and heights, and cluster them.

Coordinate whatever decor you decide on for all of the tables, but use the tables to create a multi-step process that makes your guests feel like they have "arrived". For example, at the first table, have champagne glasses waiting for your guests when they walk in. At a second table, have a selection of bite size morsels of goodness waiting. And at the final table, an escort card with their table number. I'm telling you, your guests will feel like royalty!

Next select a color palette that is bold, one that makes a statement on its own. In this case, Preston used a bright yellow. Shy away from subdued pastels, they won't do your entrance way justice. And as always with your color, stay in color! Unless it's on purpose and you want an ombre' look, make sure all your decor matches exactly. Buy everything from one manufacturer, one florist, one store, etc., so your dye lot is an exact match. Choose a color that either wakes them up, or punches them in the face. Either way, your guests are sure to smile!

For even more drama, use large statement vases for floral arrangements in the entry way. You're bound to get plenty of "oohs and aahs". We have large square vases and 24" tall glass vases to rent to you, just say the word!

I know it's like preaching to the choir, but you guys already know I'm an advocate for silk flowers! Silks are beautiful and readily available at local craft stores. There are soo many live flower looks you can achieve using silks for about 1/3 the price! So don't be afraid of the fake....embrace the fake!
Adorn the tables and escort cards with silk rose petals, just like Preston did. The local craft stores usually sell boxes of rose petals for about $9.99. Load up and use coupons!

You may not be able to replicate the hanging structure above the escort cards in this design, on your budget. But you can still use more large vases and maybe some uplighting to keep the drama going.
So as you can see, any ultra expensive design can be tweaked to fit your financial needs. It also helps to have a great decorator like us! Contact us for a quote today!

Design On A Dime Series - Preston Bailey #2

Preston Bailey out did himself with this one! OMG! Talk about a dream come true!

Okay, so what we could do here is create topiary trees for the aisle and altar; rose balls for the ceremony chairs. We can bring in the bling with gemstone garland as accents and links between the chairs that line the aisle. Not bad, right? Fantastic yet not on a fantastic budget!

Design On A Dime Series - Preston Bailey #1

Since June is the most popular wedding month, this week we'll discuss fabulous ceremony site designs. Check out celeb planner Preston Bailey's over the top designs at http://www.prestonbailey.com/wedding-ceremony/.

Us average joes may not be able to afford these amazing installations, but we can dream can't we? LOL

Let's pull some of these designs apart, and see if we can bring them down to our size and budget....

For example, this first design, all you need is an arch, some beautiful floral work and uplighting. All of which Simple Elegance has!

#TemptationTuesday - "Melon & Emerald"

This week's design is brought to you by our friends at The Knot as usual. We love taking one of their stylized designer wedding pics, and dishing the dirt on how us "average joes" can get that look for less. So let's get to it!

First, the obvious, wow, what an unconventional color scheme! Melon and Emerald! Personally, I love the melon, but green? Eh, not so much. But that's just me! But they work so well when it comes to natural elements such as wild flowers and greenery. If you decide to go with this color scheme, have your florist explore using three or four types of flowers, it will add texture and interest to this subdued pallet.

Now this designer look uses different china patterns to catch the guests' eye. In reality, your banquet hall or caterer is only going to supply you with one set of dinnerware, whatever their standard dinner plates, glasses, and flatware is. Don't fret! Add dimension to your table by using alternating the colors of the linen napkins. And if you don't have OCD like I do, LOL, you might even like to alternate the positions of the napkins; some going under the plates like shown in the picture, some laying oblong down on the table. Its up to you! Just make sure you have the banquet hall set a sample table so you can see how it comes together.

Next to look at are the untraditional centerpieces. Through the ages, there have been one to three centerpieces on any one table. But now that family style seating is popular, you have longer tables (oblong instead of round) to decorate, so the use of multiple centerpieces just makes sense. To create interest and pockets of eye contact with your guests, make sure you do high and low centerpieces. In the design, they used multiple lanterns, floral stands, and baskets. The designers not only used flowers, but they used fruit in the centerpieces as well!

We suggest you hit the tag sale scene to look for basket stands or any elegant pieces to put flowers or fruit in. Goodwill stores may even have some items for dirt cheap as well. Clean up the items and pack them nicely for your decorator.

Rent our Lanterns for a steal of a price! We offer three different styles: Classic White, Rustic, Garden/Asian.

What catches our eye most in this designer look, are the chair garlands. Love , love, love this idea! Its natural and earthy, it has a "get ready for spring" feel, it's just all around fabulous. But if you're on a budget, that could get pricey. So perhaps only do garland on your sweetheart table. Or not on every chair, but every other. And then rent our Ivory Rose Garland at a great price!

So as you can see, it doesn't always take alot of money to achieve a magazine inspired look. All you need is an idea and a budget savvy decorator like us, Simple Elegance!

Stay tuned each week for more #TemptationTuesday designs, #ThirstyThursday tips to get that design, and #Savvy Saturday discounts to help!

Design On A Dime Series Jump Start

We're kicking off another series called, "Design On A Dime"! We'll look at the key elements of designs from celebrity planners, discover ways to bring those same elements into your design, and we'll show you how to do it on a budget you can actually afford!!!