Planning the Perfect Wedding Reception.
Finding the right venue...
The right venue for your event is almost as important as the cake. Once we had an idea for the date we started our search for the perfect venue. We both picked about five different places we liked and then compared the list and started to narrow it down. Once we got it down to the top two locations it became who was affordable and available for the date we wanted. While trying to figure this all out we attended a Graduation party for a friends daughter at one of our locations and pretty much new it was the venue we really wanted. The location was central for most of our guest and had great parking. The venue also had an eclectic vibe that fit with both of our personalities. We found out the following week the date was available and we booked on spot! The place is here in Baton Rouge it's called The Guru and is located on the same lot as The Markets at Circa, most locals know of this place. You will see a lot of the venue in the pictures along the way.
Play That Funky Music
Dj or band....
For some couples this is challenging, for us it was a no brainier...
Live Music for the entrance and first dance, and DJ for the rest of the night.
Lucky for us one of our best friends is a legit musician who has an amazing voice. He offered to play the reception for us but I wanted him to have a good time and hang out with everyone so we had him just do the entrance and first dance. We choose Randy Travis Forever and Ever for our entrance and Elton John Your Song for our first dance. His name is Jake Gunter and he just released his first album Ghost, Please go show him some love and support.
Now as for the DJ, this was a little harder. The husband has some connections thru his job and few of our friends so he set out to find the right DJ... A friend of ours put us on to a young lady named Ally Bea, the husband knew I would love her and that she was the one, and once I met her I knew it too... She asked what kind of music to play, I told her everything from country to trap and she jumped right on board.. She will always be my #1 go to DJ.
A fest fit for a king
What to eat? I knew I wanted some good (not good for me food)! We went with Chef Kevin, he is a Louisiana native and his food shows it. He prepared everything from Seafood Pasta to my personal favorite Mac&Cheese. The only thing he didn't prepare himself was the Fried Chicken, we actually got it from a local grocery called Mathernes . I really do think it is the best chicken I have had while living in Baton Rouge. Now back to our Great Chef, not only did he prepare us an awesome spread of food that everyone loved, he also gifted us a fruit table as a wedding gift! How awesome is that, and this was no small table... He has since moved from the area but he does still deserve the love.
Let them Eat Cake
The cake was a a lot harder than I thought it would have been. I mean I went it to it knowing I liked cake so this will be easy, It was not!Not only do you need to decide on a look but a flavor.I began my search on Pinterest like the majority of people do. I started a folder and pinned away until i found one I found the ONE. We decided on the perfect look for the cake Two tiers one of black, and one black and white striped, Gold dripping down the hole cake with flowers spiraling around while two Flamingos stood proud on top. Now who could make this cake.
The husband pulls one out again and finds the perfect person for the job. She loved our vision and all she needed to know was the flavor we wanted, Strawberry with buttercream filling of course. The only down side to our cake were the flowers didn't end up as bright as I would have really liked them to but It was still beautiful. The cake topper I found on Etsy but it was a Bride and Groom so I messaged the lady who makes them and she Made us one with Two Grooms..
Black and White are my Signature colors...
When it came to "Theme" I knew I wanted Black and White but what to go with it? The husband and I both have a thing for blue and Flamingos are kinda my thing so why not use that. So That is just what we did. We drew inspiration from a few different places, one being Alice in Wonderland and the other being one of my favorite designers Kate Spade. So back to Pinterest for some ideas. (side note: Pinterest is the place where time goes to die) I searched for hours and found a lot of ideas with over sized flowers, butterfly's, lots of gold, and plenty of Black and White. I mixed lots of ideas together and got to work. I sketched ideas and started a look book (I will touch on the look book again later). once I had my plan on paper the real work started.
I decided for my over size flowers I would try my hand at making paper flowers, I ended up making probably 60 or so.. Though I don't have a DIY for the flowers at this time maybe I will do one soon. There was a lot of trial and error in making them.
Whimsical was the plan..
I knew the centerpieces needed to be almost over the top and really whimsical. I looked to Alice in wonderland for this idea, I wanted to play off of the rosebushes from the Queen of Hearts Garden, so I decided on doing some type topiary. I still wanted to use some butterfly's and definitely gold manzainta branches. I found the best moss covered vases and topped them with a moss covered ball. I was sure I didn't want traditional roses so I went with Ranunculus in different fun colors, and added them to the moss ball in small clusters. The butterfly's are inserted in the ball on wire so it looked as if they were flying around. I also added gold manzanita branches coming out of the top of the ball with butterfly's on them.. It really did make for an over the top whimsical view. and on some of the other tables I went with just gold manzanita trees with crystals hanging off of the branches.
Sign your name
We opted out of the traditional guest book and went for something a little different. We decided to get an oversized canvas and paint what looked like a cameo with both of our faces on it looking at each other. , It turned out perfect, Our guest could look at it and know exactly who was who. We had our guest sign around the cameo with a message and there names. Guest loved it and it gave us art work to hang in our house. The large flamingos on both sides are Don Featherstone flamingos because of course I needed them!
Click, Click and POSE
Not everyone you meet that has a camera is a photographer.
There is a lot of trust put in to the Photographers hands on your big day. He or She will capture all your moments for you to treasure for the rest of your life so don't just go with this person or that person because you know them, Go with someone who tales great pictures! The guy we choose, His name is Adam Vo happens to also be a great friend first and a Great Photographer second. He knows what to do and how to get the perfect shoot. So always look at the body of work they do and make sure their style fits with yours!!! He took all of the photos I used for this blog post.
So this is how we planned our perfect reception and maybe these steps and ideas can help you also. Go plan your own over the top royal wedding and share it with me so I can see how my Flock gets married. As for the look book I spoke about earlier in this post, stay posted as I will do an entire post for it at a later date.
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