Bella Blooms

Susan and I spend a lot of our time working with our clients on creating a budget for their weddings...and we spend even more time helping clients stay within their budget. I thought today's Bella Blooms would be a good opportunity to discuss setting your floral budget.

You should expect to spend on average 10% of your overall wedding budget on flowers, however the sky is really the limit when it comes to flowers and overall decor. And I really mean the sky is the limit!! This budget amount should include your personal flowers, which are your bride and bridesmaids bouquets, groom and groomsmen boutonniere, as well as flowers for mom, dad, grandparents, and other honored guests. Ceremony decor would include arrangements at the altar, pieces on your aisle and an aisle treatment such as rose petals. Reception decor could include your table centerpieces, napkin treatments for each place setting, and cake table flowers. There are endless possibilities when thinking about ways to incorporate flowers in to your wedding.

As a huge fan of all things floral, it is really easy for me to get lost in the beauty of the flowers and really want to have flowers at each and every turn. I always try to work with our couples to get the most bang for your buck, given the budget I always suggest using a larger percentage of the money available on the reception decor, as this is where guests will spend up to 4 or 5 hours, rather than just an hour at the ceremony.

I leave you with one of my favorite photos, hope you love it as much as I do.

Photo courtesy of Evoke Photography, Floral designed by Carissa of JL Designs

There are a number of ways that you can watch your budget while still maintaining the elegance and beauty of your wedding. We will discuss ways that you can save money on flowers in a future Bella Blooms post.

Happy Planning

Cindy & Anthony ~ Holy Family Catholic Church & Pasadena Convention Center

Cindy and Anthony are such a great couple and their wedding was truly a reflection of their personalities! From the double-decker bus to donuts at the end of the night, this day was all about fun for their family and friends! Here are some of our favorites images of the day courtesy of Josef Isayo.

The bridesmaids wore gorgeous Vera Wang bridesmaids dresses.

Look closely at the tree trunk...Cindy & Anthony's initials and wedding date were carved by a friend.

One of the most popular activities was a custom silhouette for each guest cut on site by Karl Johnson from Cut Arts.

And of course hot donuts at the end of the night from The Fry Girl!

Many thanks to all of the fantastic vendors that made this day a huge success!

Wedding Coordinators ~ Bella Weddings & Events

Ceremony Venue ~ Holy Family Catholic Church

Reception Venue ~ Pasadena Convention Center
Photographer ~ Josef Isayo

Videographer ~ Pristine Video
Entertainment ~ DJ Cito-C
Florist ~ Blossom Floral

Lighting ~ LightenUp

Rentals ~ Hayden Dance Floors and Designer Specialty Linens
Cake ~ Cakery Bakery
Dessert ~ The Fry Girl
Silhouette Artist ~ Cut Arts
Transportation ~ Starline Tours

~ Frosting Wednesday ~

We are changing things around on the Bella Blog this week and today we have a special "Frosting Wednesday" post so that we can share some urgent information. Sadly, last week the Cakegirls shop and bakery in Chicago was destroyed by a fire and everything was lost. Many of you may be familiar with the Cakegirls from their appearances on Amazing Wedding Cakes and from seeing their work featured in a variety of wedding related publications. They are definitely leaders in the wedding cake industry!

So you may be asking, how can you help? Well, the Cakegirls are selling t-shirts to help their employees "bridge the gap" while they rebuild - click here to purchase the t-shirt.

And of course we can't have a post without some of my favorite Cakegirls designs!

photos courtesy of The Cake Girls via Modern Romance

photo courtesy of The Cake Girls via JuBella


photo courtesy of The Cake Girls via Instyle Weddings

Bella Blooms

Growing up, I always remembered Easter as being the official start of Spring. As we all welcome Spring (per the Brown family traditions) with celebrations of Easter and Passover, there is nothing that symbolizes renewal to me than Cherry Blossoms.

When I saw this spread in Martha Stewart Weddings I just fell in love. How oh how can we plan a reception with all these amazing cherry blossom trees in full bloom? Just loved the details down to the flower girls with their cherry blossom wands.

Above images from Martha Stewart Weddings

Cherry Blossom Centerpiece from GetMarried.com

Image found on Cousins Photo Blog

I can remember my first visit to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms, which were given to the United States in 1912 as a gift symbolizing the growing friendship between Japan and the US. Seemed that all the visitors walking through the rows and rows of trees were falling out of their deep winter slumbers, such an amazing symbol of renewal and rebirth. If you are lucky enough to have planned your wedding in the 2 week window that cherry blossoms are blooming, late March to early April, how will you plan to incorporate them? Hope you find this as inspirational as I do.

Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC

Image found on Wikipedia, Cherry Blossoms in Newark, NJ

~ Frosting Friday ~

Last Sunday Kathy and I attended the fabulous Unveiled event. We had so much fun seeing many of our favorite vendors and meeting some great new vendors too! The BEST part though, was right when we arrived I saw signs for a Cake Gallery - how perfect for me, a room full of cakes! Of course I had to take a few pics and share some of my favorites with you for today's Frosting Friday, enjoy!

On the left, Fantasy Frostings and on the right, Cake Monkey Bakery

On the left, Sweet and Saucy Shop and on the right, Erica O'Brien Cake Design