Food Stations | Despina Craig Events

Food and Drink Stations at Your Special Event | Despina Craig Events

Food is an important part of any wedding or special event. Not only does everyone have a more enjoyable time when his or her stomach is satisfied, but an elegant food display entertains guests by allowing them to interact with one another and become engaged in your celebration! 

Make It Yourself 

A food or beverage station where guests can create their own version of whatever dish you are offering can be a great idea. Guests will appreciate being able to customize whatever they are eating, and making it on their own can be a fun activity and form of entertainment. 

TIP: If the food or dessert you are offering is more on the messy side, it may be better to have the dish already prepared for guests to grab. However, if you really prefer the interaction and engagement that a "make it yourself" station encourages- just make sure to have napkins readily available for guests as well! 

Match Your Food To Your Theme

If your wedding has a theme, create a fun food station that is in line with it. Your food station can represent your favorite thing(s) to eat as a couple, the location of your wedding or where the bride/groom is from, or just the overall style and theme of the event. Below are examples of unique and festive food tables!

Food stations are in! When organized and coordinated correctly, they are elegant, easy to customize, and enjoyable for guests in a variety of ways. Consider creating food stations for your wedding or special event!

Favors & Gifts | Despina Craig Events

Wedding Favors and Gifts | Despina Craig Events

Although it is your special day, small favors and gifts for your guests and/or bridal party is a great way to show your appreciation for their involvement, as well as make your event even more memorable for them!

Simple and Classic
Wine, champagne, a coffee or tea kit, or even a petite floral arrangement is a great idea for favors for your guests. These can be beautifully arranged for guests to take as they please, or customized for specific individuals.

Food Favors
A little something sweet or a nicely arranged simple snack can be very elegant, as well as delicious, when organizing favors for your guests. Almonds, chocolates, miniature jams- the possibilities are endless when it comes to food favors!

Non-traditional
Want to give your guests or bridal party something unique? Don't be afraid to make your gifts and favors non-traditional. Aside from actually customizing gifts with logos, a wedding hashtag, a photo, or specific wording, you can choose gifts that are unique in themselves and represent your event and relationship in a special way!

The First Dance | Despina Craig Events

Your First Dance as Mr. & Mrs. | Despina Craig Events

One of the first things you get to do as husband and wife is celebrate your relationship and special day with a couple's dance. From choosing a song to perfecting your moves, the first dance can be quite the process in itself. However, it is important to put time and effort into arranging this part of your wedding, as it is something you and many of your guests will remember forever!

Choosing a Song

Naturally, it may not be easy to automatically agree on the song you do your first dance to. Although it is easy to recognize all the differences between you and your partner's song preferences, look for commonalities. Do you share a like for a certain artist, genre, or style? What is a song that can represent your journey and relationship as a couple?

These are good questions to ask yourselves when choosing a first dance song. The most important thing to remember is that the song should be memorable and make you both happy. This could include a fun, upbeat song and dance, or a traditional, romantic, classic song and slow dance. There is no "right" way to go when it comes to this!

The Moves

Depending on your preferences, you may feel the need to have some type of choreography prepared for your first dance. Dance classes can be a fun and useful activity to do with your partner as part of planning the wedding. Although this is a possibility to consider, do not feel obligated to take dance classes or know your moves prior to your special day. Some couples may simply choose a song, and dance on the spot to it. When your song is more of a classic and entails typical slow dancing with your partner, dance classes may be unnecessary. If you select an untraditional tune that is better paired with specific movements or choreography, dance classes or practices prior to the event are not a bad idea.

Kick off your journey as newly weds in a positive and memorable way by customizing and perfecting your first dance!

Customization | Despina Craig Events

Customize Your Special Day | Despina Craig Events

Although coordinating and arranging those tiny details stresses you out the most, it is what makes your event unique and special. The sky is the limit when it comes to customization for your wedding or special event; you can customize pretty much anything imaginable!

Coasters

Beverages are a big part of every wedding. From the bar to simple refreshments, almost every guest has a glass in hand. Coasters are a great detail to customize that both you and your guests will appreciate. Above is a customized laser cut coaster made of natural cork. 

TIP: If you have a wedding hashtag, a coaster may be a great spot to place it! See more on wedding hashtags at http://despinacraigevents.blogspot.com/2015/08/chooseyourweddinghashtag-despina-craig.html 

Cake Toppers

A customized cake topper draws all the right type of attention. What better way to celebrate the new 

Mr. & Mrs. than with a 3D mini version of them at the top of the cake? A customized cake topper contributes to making your day, event, and celebration that much more unique and memorable.

  

Cufflinks

Customize the cufflinks of the groom and his side of the wedding party! This may seem like an extremely minor thing to pay attention to. However, cufflinks are often visible to guests at the event as well as in photographs of the event. Photographs are one of the only ways you can relive your special day and remember specific moments forever. If cufflinks are going to be any sort of a distraction in a photograph, assure they are drawing attention in a positive way by customizing them! 

These are just a few examples of customization for a wedding or special event. See more ideas and possibilities at https://www.43layers.com  ! 

#ChooseYourWeddingHashtag | Despina Craig Events

#WeddingHashtags | Despina Craig Events

With social media rising like it is today, a hashtag (#) for a wedding or special event is a great idea!

How To Choose One
This is your day. Your wedding hashtag can and should be whatever pleases you. It is not a bad idea to come up with something funny or clever. These types of hashtags tend to stick with people, and may encourage guests to use it more. However, do not feel obligated to create something that is clever or humorous. Something simple or specific can also encourage guests to use to hashtag frequently.

Considering that hashtags are now used on almost every form of social media, the problem may arise that your desired hashtag is already taken.
TIP: If your hashtag is already taken, try adding something unique (that is also relevant to your event) to it. A date, location, or anything else specific at the end of the hashtag will make it more unique. Ex: #MrandMrsSmith could be transformed to #MrandMrsSmithSF or #MrandMrsSmith2014

How To Encourage Guests To Use Your Hashtag
Although your guests may appreciate your hashtag or find it charming or clever, that does not necessarily mean they will use it. Some may forget about it when posting photos, so it is a good idea to remind them about it in a variety of ways. You can place your wedding hashtag anywhere! This could include table stationary, near food or refreshment areas, or near entrances and exits. Find a way to place your hashtag near anything that might be photographed!

TIP: Photo booths are a lot of fun at weddings, and a great way to advertise your hashtag! Your hashtag can be on props and, as seen below, on the printed photos that guests get to take home!

Why Create a Wedding Hashtag?

A simple hashtag is more useful and powerful than one might imagine. Once a hashtag is formed, anyone who sees it on any form of social media can click on it, and every photo with that hashtag will then appear. If a lot of guests use the hashtag, it will be a great way to see a large amount of photos from your special day all at once. In this way, hashtags create albums of photos from your special day! A wedding or special event hashtag is a great way to see and capture pictures, but more importantly- moments, that a hired photographer may not have captured.

The Five Senses | Despina Craig Events

 THE MAGIC IS IN THE DETAILS & COMES FROM APPEALING TO ALL THE SENSES!

Your very own five senses can guide you in forming and customizing the perfect special event. If anyone needs a reminder, these five senses include the following:

SEE | HEAR| SMELL|TASTE |FEEL

Vision:

What do you desire for your guests to see? How do you envision your wedding (or alternate special gathering)? Everyone can agree that how the venue looks is very important to most hosts and guests. From choosing the venue, to customizing the lighting, to desired minor details and unique decor- make sure that you and your guests have a pleasant visual experience. 

TIP: Enhance the visual experience through details such as the proper floral arrangements, notable lighting, or even unique cake toppers as shown below! See more on lighting at Lighten Up! , and more on unique cake toppers at Buzzfeed.com. 

Hearing:

What do you want to hear on your special day? What do you want your guests to hear? This most commonly refers to music. Music has the ability to influence our moods and emotions; use this to your advantage! 

Smell:

What scent(s) do you want to fill your venue? Smell can be easily forgotten, but is very important. Anything too strong or unpleasant can negatively affect your guests' experiences at your event. Be selective when choosing specific scents or items with bold scents for your venue. 

TIP: Candles can be an elegant and romantic addition to your special event, and, of course, positively contribute to the aroma!

Tasting:

What do you want your guests to eat? Do you have a particular meal that will enhance your special day? Even if food is not at the top of your priority list, feed yourself and your guests well! No one has a fun time on an empty stomach. Amazing food choices can make your event very memorable for your guests. 

Feeling:

How do you want your guests to feel? This sense has two parts within it: physical feeling and emotional or internal feeling. Physical feeling can involve specific texture and fabric choices for your event (see intricate table cloth below). This sounds like minor detailing, which it may be, but that does not change its importance. Concrete and physical memories can be very influential to someone. As for emotional feelings, the other four senses very much determine this one. If you customize what your guests see, hear, smell, and taste- you can assume that they will feel great at your special event! 

Use your five senses to your advantage when planning your special event. You and your guests can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel whatever and however you desire!

Lighten Up | Despina Craig Events

Lighten Up!

Weddings include investments in many things- some essential, and some just desired. One might debate which category Lighting falls into, and this post is to clarify: Lighting is an essential investment when it comes to special events! By investing in quality lighting for a wedding (or any special event), the bride and groom have complete control over their special day. Lighting can dramatically influence how the venue looks, the atmosphere of the event, and even the mood of the hosts and guests. Learn how to brighten up your event!

Color: 
A venue can be drastically transformed through a tinted glow, or even multiple tinted glows. Colors can enhance, hide, or completely change various parts of the room as well as the items or people in it. 

These photos, courtesy of Hartmann Studios, exemplify Amber Glow. The different shades of amber accented throughout these venues have created an elegant and joyful atmosphere. 

TIP: An Amber Glow is also known for enhancing how guests look as well!

Uplighting:
      Uplighting is a technique that can control how the dimensions of a room appear by dramatically projecting light that begins at the bottom and aims upward. The combination of uplighting with the right colors, textures, and structures can be very powerful.

Various forms of uplighting exemplified by Luminous Designs (top) and Augie Chang Photography (bottom).

Patterns:

     Proper lighting has the ability to project specific patterns on walls, floors, ceilings, or other surfaces in a venue. This is referred to as Pattern Wash. This can make a plain surface far more complex and interesting, as well as draw peoples’ attention to certain spots of a room. This same idea is available through Monogram Logo Projection, where a specific icon, name, or logo can be projected onto the desired surface.

In the photo on the top, the dance floor is beautifully highlighted thanks to a classy and notable pattern being projected through lighting. On the bottom you’ll see a hotel’s logo being projected on their rooftop restaurant for all guests and customers to see.

Accent Lighting: Pin Spotting

It’s all in the name! Pin spotting can accent very specific parts of a venue, from seating cards, to small pieces of décor. Pin spotting will draw all eyes on your wedding cake, impressive centerpieces, or anything else you might desire!

     The difference is astonishing between a centerpiece with and without pin spotting! Pin spotting is an important form of lighting because if a bride, groom, or any special events host wants to invest in detail oriented items, he or she needs to invest in lighting as well in order for these details to be recognized and appreciated.  (Photo on the left: SEK Wedding Lighting)

Many brides feel their wedding cake is a very important part of their special day. If that is you, make sure to enhance and draw attention to your fabulous cake through pin spotting or some sort of accent lighting!

So now- you know! Lighting should not be considered optional for your special day. Although it can be a big investment, lighting is a vital component in customizing your event. These tips and ideas will aid in creating the perfect atmosphere for your special event!

TIP: See opportunities for uplighting rentals at www.rentuplights.com. (Nationwide service!)