Guest Blogger: Peter Bilodeau

This week we are excited to bring Peter Bilodeau to our guest blogger position. Peter contacted us as a professional writer to give couples advice when writing their own vows. Here he shares some great tips on what to think about when writing your vows. Enjoy!

WEDDING VOWS: CLASSICAL, PERSONAL, WHIMSICAL

By Peter Bilodeau

Your wedding vows can display your love in ways no other words can. They can evoke memories, and invoke the power of your emotions.

Whatever you choose for vows will reflect your personality, your character and your preferences- if you want them too.

If you don’t want to be original, you can choose the classical vows found in any book, or online by Googling wedding. “I (your name) take you (your spouse’s name) to love, honor and cherish etc.” These vows say that you are traditional and you are committing to your spouse using words that are tried and true.

Or, perhaps you want vows that tell your friends and family who your spouse is. For example, if your spouse is in the Armed Forces, you can incorporate words like, “Know that I will always be with you, wherever your obligations take you. May you always feel that I am by your side, even if we are miles apart.”

Although weddings represent serious commitment, perhaps you want a dash of whimsy included in your vows. “When I was younger, I wanted to be a firefighter. But today, you have ignited a fire within me that will never burn out – and I will never extinguish it.”

More spiritual of spouses may want to bring in more of the sacramental side of marriage.“Starting today, you, I and God will walk together through a life of giving, and may he bestow his grace on us as we pursue our journey together.”

A couple may choose to write their vows together, so that each may complement the other. Or, a couple may want to write their vows separately, reflecting their own personalities and their own thoughts about the other. Sometimes, the look on your spouse’s face when he or she hears the vows for the first time on the altar may be the highlight of your beautiful day.

As you choose your vows:

· Decide who the two of you are, and let your vows clarify that.

· Tailor your vows to your personality, and that of your spouse.

· Surprise your spouse on the altar – or not.

· Incorporate your beliefs.

· Make them very personal, or make a statement to the world.

Whatever your choices, remember that you will always cherish this day, and you will always remember the words you choose. So choose them with care, with love and with thoughts of eternal happiness.

Peter Bilodeau is a professional writer and editor, who has spent more than 30 years in journalism. He now helps businesses and individuals with their communication needs, including speeches, press releases, Web content, proposals and books. He also writes a commentary blog . Visit his Web site at www.peter-writeforme.com His blog iswww.wealthwisdomandwellness.com

Sweet treat for your seat

When I saw this picture...

The wheels in my head seriously started turning. And just like she never does, the post onBakerella did not disappoint. This precious bride HANDMADE all of these cookies for place cards.

I have died and gone to bakers heaven.

To find out how Mel made these adorable cookies, check out her blog. And feel free to volunteer yourself to make these for me.

Guest Blogger: Black Tie Barbecue

We are so excited to share this post from Black Tie Barbecue with y'all today! We love to work with them, and know you are going to love all the advice they have to share on choosing a reception menu. As their name describes, from barbecue to a black tie meal, everything they make is delicious. To see more for them follow them on Twitter@BlackTieBBQ or check out their website!

Help for Choosing Your Wedding Reception Menu

We are so surprised at how many couples have no clue what type of food they want to serve at a very important event- their wedding! They ask us to choose or they just want to be presented with a “package.”

Why don’t we want to choose our first wedded meal?

“But I have to choose based on my budget,” you might say. There are options within every budget range. We choose what we eat everyday, based on what we like, and what we have a taste for even if we are choosing between fast food restaurants on opposite sides of the road or between the cans in our pantry or the frozen meals in our freezer.

So now that we have decided to exercise our right to choose the cuisine at our wedding – how do we decide? We’re not going to decide for you. We want you to ask yourself a few questions in different areas: Preferences of the Couple, Preferences of the Guests, and Wedding Style.

Preferences of the couple

· What do you order when you go out to eat?

-Tapas? Chicken breasts and a vegetable? Steak and potatoes?

· What kind of salad do you usually order? House salad or spinach with sesame ginger dressing? Cobb salad? Chopped salad? Ceasar?

· Do you like foods you can make at home or do you like to see a more creative plate when you are eating out?

· What hors d'ouevres do you get excited about when you are at a party? If you are looking out the corner of your eye for a waiter to return for a certain tasty bite, what is on that tray?

Preferences of the guests (remember you can’t accommodate everyone perfectly– consider the majority)

· Are your guests heavy meat eaters?

· Will a large number of your guests eat seafood? Including shellfish?

· Are your guest partiers – will they take a few bites and get back on the dance floor?

· Are your guests willing to stand? Or do they need to be seated and served as much as possible?

· Are your guests adventurous? Or will they prefer common, comfort foods?

· Do your guests eat a lot? When it comes to food, do you need to steer your budget towards quantity (you know who you are if these are your people).

Complementing Your Other Wedding Plans

· Would you like to share regional specialties of your wedding location or hometown with guests?

· Is your wedding modern? Do you want cutting edge cuisine? Or would you like to take traditional foods and serve them in a contemporary vessel or manner (which is a very modern thing to do now)

· Informal? How informal? Baskets of homemade potato chips informal?

· Would you like your food, perhaps just your appetizers or desserts, to compliment your wedding colors? Yes, this can be done without sacrificing taste! (but notice I said compliment, and not match)

These are some of the questions we ask our brides and couples in our wedding consultations. It helps us create a custom menu that the couple can be excited about serving to their guests (and eating from their to-go box after the wedding). Ask these questions of yourself and your fiancé and see what kind of menu you and your caterer come up with!

Bio

Black Tie Barbecue is a full service catering company in Atlanta, Georgia. We call ourselves Black Tie Barbecue because we love to do traditional barbecue as well as elevate meats smoked and grilled on a charcoal grill to fine dining through preparation, accompaniments, and presentation. We love celebrations so much that we throw several special events ourselves throughout the year. Visit our website to find out about our upcoming events (including a low country boil this month!) and come party with us and taste our great food!

Inspire

Inspiration. This could be one of the biggest things a bride is looking for when she is planning her wedding. We want things that make us swoon, drop our jaws, and heavy our breathing. Finding truly breathtaking images can often be a difficult task in the wedding "industry." Although there are blogs upon blogs, and magazines galore, at times, the images start to run together. With the exception of our blog, just kidding, many have similar images and ideas. To get unique ideas specifically for your wedding, at times it helps to look beyond weddings. Some of my favorite places to look to be inspired?

Food blogs not only inspires your ideas for reception food, but colors and textures will also inspire your theme for your wedding. Take this post from Smitten Kitchen for bourbon peach hand pies.

These images scream inspiration. Check out the colors, the stainless steel peeler mixed with the peach colors put images in my head immediately. And small peach pies? Hello southern flair for a midnight snack. Read with your eyes open and prepare to find inspiration everywhere you go.

You may have noticed, some of our pictures here come from Bippity Boppity Boo. These "random" sites are great to look at for inspiration. Not a wedding blog, Bippity Boppity Boo describes her ramblings, or pictures in most cases as "hopelessly romantic." Perfect inspiration for your big day.

Beautiful pictures, and colors are what your will find spilling over the pictures of sites like these. Whether the colors, designs, or the emotions expressed inspire you, you will find plenty of note worthy images here.

Check out the brands you love. It seems simple enough that you would want your wedding to be a showcase of things you love, but often brides get to sucked into the "wedding" look. Take some time out on Google to search your favorite designers images. If these brands inspire your everyday, why would they not be incorporated into your most important day?

Jenna Lyons closet:

Jonathan Adler's Malibu Barbie Home:

Brooks Brothers:

Wherever you get your wedding day inspiration, stay true to yourself, and the style you want to display as a couple.

Real Wedding: Jason and Whitney

As summer comes to an end, we want to share some of our favorite summer wedding shots. First up is Jason and Whitney's beautiful Roswell wedding. Held in St. Peter's Chanel, Jason and Whitney bridged the gap beautifully between contemporary and classic. Here are some of our favorite memories from the day:

Some of our non-pictured favorite details from the night? The drapery wall that separated the cocktail hour and from the main reception venue. The grooms "fishing" cake. And lastly, the surprise on Jason and Whitney's faces when their get-away car was a white vintage Rolls Royce- good choice mom!

Thanks for letting us share in your special day Jason and Whitney, it was beautiful!