I Do Foundation

We wanted to highlight a great organization, the I Do Foundation.  The I Do Foundation allows couples to designate a charity of their choice for their guests to donate money to in lieu of wedding gifts.  If there is a charity you are passionate about, or would like to honor the memory of a relative at your wedding by having guests give money to a certain charity, this is a great way to give back.  For more information on the I Do Foundation and setting up your registry to direct to the charity of your choice, please visit their website at http://www.idofoundation.org/.

Sandals Honeymoon Registry

Sandals recently announced that they had launched a honeymoon registry so that friends and family could donate to the cost of your honeymoon.  Honeymoon registries have been a huge trend over the past few years.  With couples getting married later and already having a lot of the basics they need for their homes and people watching their dollars a little more closely, honeymoon registries are a great way to upgrade your honeymoon.

To book your luxury included vacation at Sandals, contact us through our contact page, call us at 703-888-8728 or email us at info@asplashofelegance.com and we will have our personal Sandals Representative call you directly to discuss your Sandals honeymoon or vacation!

A Fantasy Wedding 2011 Vendor: Williams-Sonoma

A Splash of Elegance is pleased to announce that Williams-Sonoma is one of this year's sponsors of A Fantasy Wedding 2011. What a fabulous store to have your wedding registry -- stop by and let the experts help you set up your household for fabulous entertaining and scrumptious dining! Visit them online at www.williams-sonoma.com. For more information on A Fantasy Wedding 2011, please visit www.facebook.com/afantasywedding2011 or www.asplashofelegance.com.

Wedding Website Etiquette

In this digital age where everything is done online, most couples choose to have a wedding website and online registries.  What is the best way to let your guests know about these websites?

Online Registries
It is never appropriate to include your online registry information on your Save the Dates or on your actual information.  Remember, you are requesting your guests presence at your wedding, not their presents.  You can however include your registry information on your personal wedding website, that is what it is there for!  Leave it up to your guests to ask where you are registered. 

Wedding Websites
A personalized wedding website is a great tool for a couple to use to let guests know pertinent information about their wedding- directions, location, registry information, etc.  You can even give them the option to RSVP online.

So where can you advertise your wedding website?  The appropriate place would be on your save the date cards, not on your wedding invitation. 

Did you know that we can get you set up with your very own wedding website?  As part of The Luxe Wedding Package we can get you set up with a wedding website that can include an online RSVP feature.

By Julie Daniel, Splash Consultant

Is Registering for China a Thing of the Past?

 (Mikasa 'Daylight')

Historically in American culture, one of the first things a newly engaged bride did was to register for her china.  The bride's biggest dilemma was how many pieces to register for; would service for 8 be enough?  Is service for 12 too much?

Times are changing and today's bride is not the same as brides 50 years ago, 20 years ago and even 10 years ago.  Brides are now asking themselves: Do I even need to register for china?

Here are some common reasons that present today's bride with hesitations when deciding whether or not to register for china:

1- She stands to inherit one or more sets from her mother, grandmother, mother-in-law or other relative.

2- She remembers her mother or grandmother's china rarely being used; it was more of a decoration and a space-waster than something practical.  She would rather receive gifts that she could use on a daily basis.

3- Space is at a premium.  Today's bride is getting married later than before and she will be bringing a lot more to the table (no pun intended!).  She may already have a stocked kitchen and basic everyday dinnerware which suits all her needs.

That being said, there are still brides who are making the trip to Macy's with mom to pick out their china.  Today's bride may not need China but she will still register for it because is that what their mother and grandmother did.  She may have had her china pattern picked out since she was a little girl and has been waiting for the day when it is her turn to register.

Here are some patterns that are catching our eye lately:

Vera Wang Wedgewood Blue Duchesse:

Kate Spade June Lane Collection: 

Crate + Barrell Regent Dinnerware:

 

By Julie Daniel, Splash Consultant

Pearls of Wisdom

I've just read an article that troubles me, so I wanted to share some pearls of wisdom with all of our dear brides.  Let me preface by saying that it is our job as wedding planners and consultants to make you, our dear brides, look as perfect as you can on one of the most important days of your lives.  Now, having said that, once we give our expertise to you, it is your decision as to whether or not you implement said wisdom.

Apparently there is a new service for brides called e-Gifting, which allows a bride to print off gift registry cards to include in her invitation ensemble and to print off pre-printed thank you notes, among other things.

Please let me be very clear about this ~ while this sounds like a wonderful time-saving thing to do, there are real etiquette issues with using this service.  It is NEVER (sorry, the caps are for emphasis) permissable to add your gift registry with any invitation ... wedding, shower, whatever, it is just not to be done.  Word of mouth is the proper way to let your guests know where you are registered, if they are interested in knowing.  (Remember, you have asked  for their presence, not presents). 

And then we get to the thank you notes, and any of you who knows me can see me reeling on the ceiling fan over this one!  Thank you notes must always (ok, I spared you the caps this time) be handwritten, either by the bride or the groom.  If you write them as soon as a gift arrives, you're not faced with a mountain of thank you's to write when you arrive home from your honeymoon.

There you have it, pearls of wisdom ~

We value the day and the event, but we treasure the lifelong relationships with our clients.