Wedding Coffee Bar Ideas

Many couples, when considering different options to personalize their wedding reception, investigate wedding coffee bar ideas as either a less expensive yet gourmet simple reception or a unique addition to a morning or late evening event. Fortunately, there are many tasty ways to make a delicious coffee bar part of your special day.

A coffee bar is a caffeinated twist on a simple buffet. Instead of a range of different dishes, guests are offered a range of different coffees to enjoy. Popular items to include as part of a wedding coffee bar are…

• Different types of coffee (espresso, roasts, cappuccino, etc.)
• Different coffee flavors
• Unique coffee toppings or mix-ins
• Coffee-compatible desserts

Some couples may offer a simple coffee bar for guests to create their own personalized beverages, while couples with a more generous wedding budget may opt to hire a barista or rent specialized equipment to make fancier types of coffee. Regardless of your budget, however, coffee can be a unique treat at your reception.

When to Use a Coffee Bar

With many different types of hot and cold coffees as well as dozens of possible flavors and combinations, coffee isn't just for the morning anymore. Wedding coffee bar ideas are suitable for a range of different uses for your celebration, including…

• An end-of-evening pick up for a reception that runs late into the night
• A central feature of a breakfast or brunch reception
• A token of thanks for bridal party members, family members, and friends who help decorate the reception location the morning of the wedding
• A non-alcoholic alternative to an open bar or cocktail hour between the wedding ceremony and the reception

Shabby Chic Wedding Ideas

• Shabby chic is a form of interior design where furniture and furnishings are either chosen for their age and signs of wear and tear or new items are distressed to achieve the appearance of an antique. This idea incorporated with a wedding can result in a very romantic and beautiful look look.

50's Inspired Wedding Fashion & Ideas

Eyes:With this 50s makeup look, you want your eye makeup to be as subtle as possible. It is best to apply a light eye shadow color in pearl or bone that matches your skin tone from your upper lash line to your brow bone, and then apply one straight, thick line of eyeliner along your upper lash line. You can also apply the eyeliner as a cat-eye look, depending upon your preference. Use a neutral highlighter to line your lower lash line, and then apply several coats of black mascara.

For a wedding, it is also recommended to use individual false eyelashes to thicken and lengthen your lashes naturally for photography. Use an eye shadow shade that matches your hair color and a contour brush to lightly fill in your eyebrows for a finishing touch.

 

For this glam, 50s wedding makeup look, your lips need to be red, bold, and vibrant. This is where the fun begins!

Of course, you don’t necessarily need to pick a brick red color since there are many shades of red to choose from.
For cool skin tones, choose a red with blue undertones, and for warm skin tones, choose a golden red with orange hues.

Make sure to wear a matching lip liner, and apply a small dab of clear lip gloss to the center of your bottom lip to make it appear fuller. You can also veer from the traditional red lipstick in this makeup look by applying a lip color in a bright shade of berry, which will still add a beautiful, dramatic touch as long as the lip color is dark and vibrant to contrast with your skin and eye makeup.

With this look, the drama is all in the lips!

And there you have it! This 50s pinup makeup look offers an elegant touch to any themed wedding, and it looks beautiful on almost all skin types.

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Advice for Grooms

A bit of humour (but truth) for husbands to be... enjoy!

Ancient Greek Wedding Theme

Is your man, "Your Greek god?" Why not celebrate with an Ancient Greek inspired wedding theme? Not to be confused with a college toga party, the Ancient Greek theme wedding has been mostly overlooked in recent years. This is probably due to its popularity for frat and sorority parties on college campuses across the country. Those events are not about elegance and the result is often tacky. So it's not hard to understand why the theme is not on the tip of a bride's tongue when it's time to pick out a theme for the wedding.

Still it can be fun and rewarding to play with the ancient Greek architecture and fashions when designing your wedding celebration:

Of course, pulling off any theme reaches beyond the decor of the room. Just like a theater event, the average individual’s ability to embrace an atmosphere depends largely on the appearance of the principle players. That doesn't mean that in order for you to pull off an ancient Greek themed wedding that you have to get married in a toga - no way! In fact the toga isn’t even Greek. It’s the Roman addition to the culture.

Choosing such a wedding theme does mean that your gown and the dress of the rest of your party should be tastefully reminiscent of the styles favored by the Ancient Greeks. As such you should start by commissioning a wedding dress based on a design inspired by the sculptures of Aphrodite and the timeless beauty of ancient Greek clothing styles in general. Then add an elegant bridal sandal to complete your wedding theme and accent your look.

Build your Greek wedding theme decor with pillars. It's usually most practical to have the big pillars you need made from Styrofoam if you can’t find a facility that was built with columns or you need more for the ambiance of the room. You can have them professionally made or if you know a wood worker that person might be willing to cut them for you with his lathe. Then it's just a matter of painting them to your satisfaction. For most, the spray paint designed to give a stone finish will work, but ultimately every bride should play with a few pieces of scrap Styrofoam and a variety of paints before deciding. The small pillars, for the basis of your table centerpieces can be found at most any craft store.

Accent your ancient Greek themed wedding with some elegant looking urns placed strategically around the room. These too can be easily found at most craft stores. After the wedding, keep the urns in your home or apartment with dried flowers in them or just as accent pieces by themselves – there is little that will make your wedding budget go further than identifying these rare opportunities to buy something for your wedding that you can use to better your life afterwards.
Assuming the management of the facility hosting your wedding agrees, rent a fog machine to give the "Top of Mount Olympus" feel to your event - either for your ceremony, or for the dance floor at your reception - or both!
Of course there are so many other things you could do to pull off the Greek theme. Hire a Greek restaurant to cater your wedding. Hire Greek dancers and musicians as entertainment and let them help you segue way into your dance. As always, the trick to pulling off an ancient Greek Wedding is to think through every detail just as you would if it wasn't a wedding at all but a theatrical show you were staging. Yes, its work - but your lifetime of memories will be worth the effort.

Brunch Morning Wedding Reception

Q:

My fiancé and I are planning on a morning reception, sort of a brunch type, from 9 to 11 am. I have many questions concerning the colors for this time of day. I had thought of using flowers such as lavender, daisies, wild flowers, and lots of greenery, baby's breath... but I wonder if that would look well. I am also in need of ideas for menus, and an itinerary for a wedding at that hour. We thought of having music played in the background while guests eat, talk, and we take our pictures. Please, I would be very grateful for any ideas and suggestions you can give me.

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We are happy to help relieve some of the mystery and confusion in wedding planning if we can.  You don't mention what time the wedding will be, so I assume that it will be quite early. 

A few things are different at a brunch or a lunch reception than at one held later in the day.  People don't dance early in the day, so you don't need the expense of hiring a DJ unless you particularly want one.  You can also dispense with the first dances unless doing them is important to you.  If it is, that will be all the dancing that probably occurs.

In the morning, people don't drink either, except perhaps a champagne toast.  That saves you the cost of alcohol.

I agree that it would be a good idea to have music playing in the background while guests are eating and you are taking pictures.  You don't mention where the reception will be held.  If it will be at a restaurant or a facility that has background music, that is all you will need.  Otherwise, bring in a CD player and several CDs.

Your choice of flowers sounds lovely.  They will brighten up things nicely.

If you want to serve wedding cake, do so.  If cake isn't your thing, you might choose to serve another type of dessert more suited to the hour.  I had a wedding last year where the couple served German obst kuchen, a light sponge cake covered with a thin layer of sweetened cream cheese, then covered with sliced fruit.  Do you like cinnamon rolls? You might have a giant cinnamon roll made for you to cut for pictures, then serve.  You could have several large ones or one large one and many smaller ones.

For your menu, you might serve two or three varieties of quiche or frittata, mixed fruit salad, and muffins with coffee and juices to drink.

With only 2 hours, you won't be able to do many things, but you won't need to.  You can eat, then cut your cake or dessert and have it served, do toasts if you want to, then mingle with your guests until about 10:40 or 10:45.  Do your bouquet and garter toss at that time as a signal that things are coming to an end soon.  If you want to have guests blow bubbles as you leave, or toss rice, birdseed or flower petals (assuming that the facility allows it), that can be passed out to guests just before you leave.

It sounds like it will be a lovely time.  Congratulations!

I  hope this helps,

Michele - Lead Planner

A Unique Wedding Sweet Tooth

Every special event should include a playful, sweet side, a chance for guests to truly absorb the fun and joy of the celebration. Your presentation of desserts and sweet favors is just the place to introduce a playful element, such as wedding cotton candy.  Cotton candy will be one of the most popular sweet wedding treats of 2011. Cotton candy, also known as fairy floss or candyfloss, is a form of spun sugar that melts instantly in the mouth. It is a surefire way to transport your guests back to their childhoods, and an affordably elegant way to make your wedding reception guests smile!

Candy buffets, step aside. The child in me would kill to have cotton candy at a very posh, ever-so-elegant wedding! Imagine it … sipping champagne while oh-so-delicately pinching the most delicious bites of pure silken spun sugar from the freshly made confection! Mmmm… I’d totally do it! And enjoy every moment of the splurge!

Unity Sand Ceremony Vows Affirm Love

The perfect wedding is more than just a stunning gown and a stellar guest list. For brides and grooms who have a strong Christian faith, the Lord is the center of the ceremony. Couples who want to show their unity in the Lord and their bond with each other can do so through the 21st century wedding sensation known as unity sand ceremony vows. Mixing tradition with innovation, the unity sand ceremony allows couples to demonstrate both their love for each other and their love for God.

You may have attended weddings where the bride and groom light a Unity candle. The unity sand ceremony follows a similar principle, but instead of sparking a flame, the couple creates an artistic masterpiece by pouring different colored sand into a unity vase. The wedding keepsake that results in a treasure that can grace the dining table in the couple’s first home.

Adding an Extra Personal Touch to Your Honeymoon

I feel very strongly that your honeymoon should be personal; even a package cruise deal can still be made to fit you, if it’s what the two of you really want. To be honest, even staying home would be romantic right after your wedding! What you do on your honeymoon can help add that personal touch and essential romance, especially if you’ve opted for a beach honeymoon and are thinking about mainly relaxing together. I’ve put together a few ideas below for ways to make your honeymoon special; I’m sure you have a few of your own, but I’m running with the idea that more are always welcome!

1. Start to make your own wedding album. Some photographers work fairly quickly these days. If you have access to the internet on your honeymoon, it can be fantastic to try and work through your photos and put them into a scrapbook. Relaxing together is the perfect time to read look at those photos and start to construct the image of your new life together. You may not have the final versions of the photos, but you can certainly think about what you’ll put on the pages and shop for a new album, even if you’re having a professional album done.

2. Take along your wedding guest book to have a look over while you’re away. In fact, it’s best not to look at it until you’ve had a good few days of honeymoon – bring out the album when you’re good and ready to do so! It can be so romantic to read family and friends’ well wishes while lounging at sunset on the beach, at your candlelit dinner in the bush on safari, or simply anywhere you’re happy and comfortable. Many people do creative things with their guest books these days; I still would suggest having a physical book to pin things in, even if you’ve had guests write their messages on flowers or their place cards.

3. Wait to buy gifts for the wedding party until after you’ve had your honeymoon. This is a REALLY unconventional idea, and something I only just thought of myself, so I didn’t do it, but instead of giving your bridal party a gift beforehand, why not get them a special souvenir from your honeymoon destination? I’m not thinking a conventional or tacky gift, but something genuine, like a handcarved wood statue from Africa, would surely make a bigger impact. Otherwise, why not personalise your gifts?

4. Keep a few decorations and take them along with you on your honeymoon. They can be perfect for putting in the scrapbook I’ve already recommended you put together or even just including in your photos. Perhaps you have a particular bit of decoration that either you’ve spent quite a bit of time making or just symbolises your entire wedding to you – this can be such a romantic, small thing to take along and remind yourselves of the amazing wedding you’ve just had, even if you haven’t made them yourself.

Cherry Blossom Wedding Ideas

Cherry Blossom Small Cling

$9.98 each

 

Cherry Blossom Place Card Favor Boxes

$25.12 each

Cherry Blossom Candle Wedding Favor

$3.00 each

 

 

Cherry Blossoms Wine Glass Shade

$1.10 each

Simply divine on

Cherry Blossom Traditional Guest Book

$29.98 each

 



Cheery Cherry Blossom Design Candles

$1.60 each

 

Cherry Blossom Scented Soap

$1.47 each

 

Cherry Blossoms Frosted Glass Coasters

$1.75 each

 

All items can be purchased at www.GorgeousWeddingStuff.com