CWPR Fall 2016

F L O W E R S & D E C O R A T I O N S

C H I C A G O W E D D I N G & P A R T Y R E S O U R C E

W W W . C H I C A G O W E D D I N G R E S O U R C E . C O M

LIVEN UP THE CEREMONY

Whether you’re exchanging vows at a house of worship or an alternative venue, there’s

plenty of opportunity to add fruits and veggies. He suggests placing wreaths on church

doors featuring succulents with fresh items that coincide with the season. For summer

weddings, try adding berries and in the fall, consider acorns.

For winter weddings, you could go for a Williamsburg feel

and use lots of walnuts and lemons and limes. It’s up to your

imagination and how much color and uniqueness you’re

comfortable with, but there are no limits.

ADD DIMENSION TO CENTERPIECES

Avoid cookie-cutter centerpieces by incorporating fruits and

vegetables into any size display. Keep it interesting by making

each table different. For instance, use kale and eggplant

at some tables and pomegranates and Brussels sprouts at

others.

Incorporate fruits and vegetables into the vase of varying

sized arrangements with a fresh floral on top. You can also

submerge fruits and vegetables in water with a floating

candle on top.

An added perk of this approach is cutting costs. Fruits and

veggies are a bit more cost-effective than some flowers so it’s

a way of adding a fun focal point to your arrangements while

also saving money.

GET CRAFTY WITH CAKE

Adding edible fruit to a wedding cake with light-colored

frosting adds color and elegance, and can help evoke

the season. For a fall wedding, add beautiful dahlias and

raspberries and blackberries to the cake. Nuts and figs can

also give a fall harvest feel.

In the summer, citrus fruits, such as lemons, limes and

oranges, can do the trick.

MAKE FAVORS A FAVORITE

To stand apart from the commonly given candy favors,

consider giving apples or other fruit as a favor, if they’re in

season and go with your theme. We’ve also seen personalized

fruit and vegetable seed packs, as a symbol of growing love.

Reimagining the Guestbook

4 cute and fun alternatives

to the traditional wedding guestbook

– minus the book

By Anna Sachse, CTW Features

FRIEND & FAMILY RECIPE BOOK

For a sweet (or savory) reminder of loved ones, include a blank recipe card

with your invitation, as well as a note requesting that guests scribble down a

favorite recipe (and why it’s meaningful) and bring the card to the wedding. At

the reception, set up a table where guests can then affix their card to a classy

notebook, and find blank cards if needed.

GUEST BOOK BOX

Decorate a heart-shaped box (with a lid!) and either cutting out or buying a stack

of heart-shaped pieces of thin cardboard – at least one per guest. You can then

either set up a table or hand out the hearts during dinner. After all the guests

write their messages, the hearts are placed in the box, which is then sealed and

not to be reopened until your first anniversary.

PLACE MAT QUESTIONNAIRE

This idea can both keep guests busy and add another décor element to your

tables. All it requires is typing or handwriting questions about you and/or your

guests on a standard-sized piece of paper or cardstock, or purchasing a template

at Etsy.com/Shop/TedZeppelynn. Put a copy at each setting.

WALL HANGING

First select a large picture that you love –

a photograph of you together or a

place that you both love, or a painting

that you would like to hang in

your home. Display the picture

at your event, along with

instructions for guests to write

their well wishes on the “canvas.”