Go Ahead! Be My Guest! Oh Wait…Can I Take That Back?

My blog the other day linking to the information on how to get an official White House greeting for your wedding also brought up the rest of that day’s post about managing one’s guest list.  We all have to do our best to be diplomatic, but let’s just all take a moment today and say a prayer of thanks that we have more control over our guest lists than the White House has over theirs. Wishing all the best to the event planners in charge of the Governor’s Association dinner this week, and to those working on the Governor’s Ball at tonight’s Academy Awards!

Brides: Ready, Set, List!

How does one take control of the roster? Besides hiring the experts at My Little Flower Shop to keep you calm, cool and collected, here are 5 favorite tips to keep in mind.

List early, and often

Don’t wait to start making a guest list.  Most likely, we don’t have to tell you this – a lot of brides start a list even before they get engaged.  Nevertheless, for the less future-focused, it’s good to have a starting point. So just start by writing down anyone you can think of that you might want to invite.

Never say never

Once it’s time to start narrowing the pool, don’t invite people assuming “they won’t come.” Even those relatives in Malta your family hasn’t seen for 2 generations might be so touched by the invitation that they decide to get on a plane.

Life on the B list

Despite all the refrigerator magnets, the emails and the skywriting, there are still some people who will have other plans on your wedding day.  You’ve got a limited period of time to fill in, so you haven’t a moment to lose.  Have a back-up list of guests at the ready, addresses and all, so you can fire off invitations as the regrets come in.

Embrace your inner beancounter

Spreadsheets can be beautiful things. You’ll be so happy you started keeping everything in an orderly fashion. One gal we know says the address spreadsheet is her favorite thing that came out of the wedding. They’ve used it for everything  from kids birthday parties to holiday letter personalization. (It was a perfect opportunity to ask to be removed from her holiday letter list, but I just couldn’t. Bless her heart).

Just because you went to hers…

This is not Kindergarten. It’s $125-a-plate-gourmet-brunch-in-the-garden. Every girl you’ve ever seen walk down the aisle doesn’t by default belong on your list. Grown ups know this. If this culls immature friends from your life, lucky you.

Always invite the president

This is one case where you really can assume that they won’t come. But, if you send an invitation to the White House, you’ll get a special greeting back in honor of your wedding. Pretty darned cool. 

The Honorable Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama
The White House
Greetings Office Room 39
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

A wedding greeting from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

On the subject of the White House and weddings, can we just go on record that Prince William is unbelieveably rude? And that you can put a big old tiara on that Kate chick but she’ll never be as regal as Michelle Obama? But I digress.

It all boils down to this: Focus on who you two really want to smile at on your way back up the aisle. An informal poll of the MLFS staff revealed that is highly likely to be one of the happiest moments of your life. Who do you want to share that with? Go forth and list!

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The Princess Bride – She’s a Real Doll. Want to Be A Barbie? Take Our Poll!

Well, she’s not really a Princess (technically she’s a Duchess) but thanks to the Barbie dream factory, Kate Middleton is officially a doll, as is her hubby, Prince William, aka Duke of Cambridge.  And they did a pretty good job. That’s kind of a relief, because we hate to name names, but there have been some portrait dolls made that are truly, well, royal disasters.

Given the opportunity, would you want a commemorative wedding doll made of you?  Take our poll! And check out images of Doll Duke and Duchess below.
[polldaddy poll=5970486]

 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's official dolls
Will and Kate's official dolls! Oh pardon me The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The Duke and Duchess dolls get cutesy

 

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Feeling the Authentic Post V-Day LOVE!

Is it weird to feel the love strongest after Valentine’s Day? Not for a floral design company. We’re authentic romance enthusiasts.

It’s a rush running all over town delivering happiness in solid form to people.  And on Valentine’s Day it’s overwhelming – too fast, too furious and all goes by in a blink.  So the day after “the day,” it finally comes washing back over you quite how much of an effect you had on people’s day, romances and relationships in that 18 hours of sheer madness. And it feels really good.

I often comment about how lucky we are to work around beauty and love all day long.  And that’s meant literally – the beauty of flowers, and the glow of engaged couples is intoxicating.  It’s hard not to be happy helping brides to be pick out ways to make their weddings beautiful.  But there’s something so pure about delivering Valentine’s flowers to a girl who doesn’t think they are for her, or watching a couple married 30 years turn to teenagers over a bouquet of red roses.  Secret admirers, mothers to sons, there’s just something special about that Valentine love.  So pardon us if we’re still reveling in it. We’re suckers for romance, it kind of comes with the territory.  We’d better be, or we couldn’t be in this wacky, crazy business, or at least we wouldn’t be very good at it.

Authenticity makes the difference whether you’re running for president, or if you’re running all over town with a van full of Valentine’s flowers. We are who we are, and that makes our business what it is, and our events (particularly weddings) what they are.  Us? Happy and grateful.  Our business? On a terrific roll.  Our weddings?  Beautiful, and authentically romantic.

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