IDEAS
January 2022
Pantone's Gorgeous Color of the Year Might Be Splendid for Your Wedding
Photo by Marcelo Joaquim
To reflect the unprecedented nature of this moment in history, Pantone — for the very first time in its two decades of selecting a Color of the Year — has created a brand new color as its Color of 2022, and it’s beautiful.
“Very Peri” is the name of the new shade, a vibrant periwinkle violet/blue with red undertones. Pantone describes it as “displaying a carefree confidence and a daring curiosity that animates our creative spirit.”
Very Peri belongs to the blue color family but a slight violet red hue that, according to Pantone, represents “a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expression.” In fashion, design and architecture, the color combination of periwinkle blue and lavender have long been used to instill an overall calming, optimistic and positive effect.
In past generations, couples have tended to stick to one or two color tones for their wedding palette. Today, couples are choosing more elaborate color schemes in order to evoke a particular mood and ambiance for their event. With its complex color make up, Very Peri is a fantastic choice for brides.
For stationery, Very Peri can make a beautiful background color upon which gold accents are stunning. Consider gold lettering or gold leaf detail on your Very Peri invitations.
For flowers, imagine dried lavender and pops of periwinkle flowers interspersed with peach roses, cream peonies and greenery.
For your tablescape, create a sophisticated look with a periwinkle table runner and napkins with a lush floral centerpiece of pink and lilac flowers. Add gold cutlery and gold-rimmed glasses, and you’ve got a gorgeous table.
Compared with past selections of Pantone’s Color of the Year, Very Peri is a bold, complex color that will pair up well with blues, purples, neutrals, coral, peach and pastel shades.
Pantone says that Very Peri represents creativity, transition and new beginnings, a perfect theme for the new beginning of your wedding day.
April 2021
Getting Married in the Age of COVID
Photo by Arshad Pooloo on Unsplash
Most couples with a 2020 wedding date shifted their plans in some way, whether cutting their guest list, hosting a minimony, opting for an outdoor wedding, or postponing the event entirely. In future decades, according to many in the wedding industry, we will look back and see that the COVID pandemic has forever changed the norms and traditions of weddings.
These changes aren't necessarily diminishments, however. We see some interesting and positive effects that have come out of the COVID pandemic. Couples say that they now have a deeper appreciation of what is essential, especially with regard to how they celebrate with family and friends. For many, a new and imaginative spirit has energized them to forsake common wedding traditions and transform the way they want to marry. Here are a few amazing ways the pandemic has reshaped wedding traditions.
Smaller Events Expand Your Budget Possibilities
Reducing your guest count allows for more of your budget to be spent in ravishing and creative ways. You can upgrade any element of the event—invitations, lighting, decor, welcome bags, food and drink, entertainment, even the venue itself. Small upgrades can have a big impact, transforming your wedding into a truly unforgettable experience that is uniquely and indelibly you.
A Greater Emphasis on the Guest Experience
With smaller, more intimate gatherings, there's an emphasis on quality over quantity. Typically, weddings are primarily focused on the couple—evident in the wedding planning mantra “it’s your day.” And while it’s still “your” day, weddings in 2020 became more focused on the guest experience—providing friends and loved ones with an event that’s memorable and personal.
New Modes of Guest Communication
The way couples are communicating with their guests has evolved in the last year. The wedding invitation has generally been the sole form of communication between couple and guest. But as couples’ wedding plans changed in 2020, they had to reach out to their guests multiple times. An increasing number of couples are publishing wedding websites that are kept up to date with additions or changes and which can also function as a virtual venue for guests who cannot attend in person. A wedding website is a great place to share everything from your love story to your registry. An FAQ page can offer guests the assurance they need about everything from health and safety measures to dress code. Maintaining a more open line of communication with guests is something we’ll see more of moving forward.
Outdoor Weddings That Offer Unlimited Possibilities
Due to strict event guidelines and social distancing requirements for indoor spaces, there has been a surge in outdoor tented wedding celebrations. According to one wedding planner, "Not only does a tented affair offer more flexibility and safety, but it also allows couples to bring unlimited style possibilities to their celebrations, offering a blank canvas for event design and layout. Tents are perfect for a bijou fete for 10 or a celebration for 150. With endless design and planning options, you can have stunning outdoor backdrops with jaw-dropping details like dreamy lighting installations, custom flooring, cascading drapery, and swoon-worthy florals."
Greater Reliance on Vendor Teams
Given the extent and complexity of COVID-19 restrictions, couples are leaning on their vendor team’s knowledge and expertise like never before. More couples are choosing to hire wedding planners and designers to help guide them through the planning process. Since early 2020, couples have relied on their vendors in new ways, particularly to interpret safety guidelines and make changes along the way as needed. According to the Wedding Wire's Newlywed Report, couples hired an average of 12 wedding vendors in 2020.
Due to the unusual circumstances of the pandemic, couples and vendors were forced to make many adjustments throughout the wedding planning process, which resulted in greater reliance on technology. According to the Newlywed Report, 33% of couples communicated with their vendors via online chats, and 32% met through video meetings (up from 15% in 2019). Ten percent of couples only met virtually with their vendors—not ever meeting them in person prior to their wedding day. Despite the unprecedented challenges of wedding planning during COVID, 78% of couples reported that their vendors were highly understanding and accommodating to new requests and updates, which reflects well on professionals in the wedding industry.
A More Special Event Post-COVID
If you're engaged, you can be sure that your friends and loved ones are itching to celebrate with you in person. A year of social distancing restrictions has made the experience of gathering so much more special. "More than anything," says one wedding planner, "people won't take one second of celebrating for granted. Raising a glass at an engagement party, enjoying a lovely meal at the rehearsal dinner, or showering the couple with petals as they walk down the aisle together will be appreciated more than ever before. While there are few silver linings to these circumstances, it has served as an incredible lesson in the power of togetherness."
February 2021
Just Engaged? It's Not too Soon to Start Planning
We're in the final month of Engagement Season, which runs from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day. Christmas is a very popular time for proposals since an engagement ring is one of the best presents of all. Valentine's Day, the holiday of love, is another favorite occasion to get on one knee and pop the question.
To all of you newly-engaged brides-to-be, congratulations! Even if you haven't set the exact date for your wedding, it isn't too soon to begin planning for it. There are many decisions to be made aside from choosing the venue for your wedding ceremony and wedding reception:
- determining a budget
- starting the guest list
- envisioning the theme
- hiring the photographer
- booking the entertainment
- finding a caterer and planning the menu
- making arrangements with the florist
- deciding on the invitations
- ordering the cake
- planning the toast
- and more
A wedding planner can be a vital ally in selecting the right vendors, in coordinating all the aspects of your wedding, and in managing the details so that you can relax and enjoy your day. If you have decided on a destination wedding, working with a local wedding planner is absolutely essential.
Your wedding planner can do a little or do a lot. We offer 3 wedding planning services: one where we do it all, one where we do some, and one where we're there on your wedding day with support and guidance until you're off on your honeymoon. We can accommodate any budget, and no wedding is too large or too small. We have been coordinating events for 18 years in Santa Fe, so our knowledge of venues and vendors is vast, and our talent in helping craft unique, stunning weddings is extensive and versatile.
This is the time of year we talk to many brides-to-be, and every conversation is different. Every couple is one-of-a-kind. Every wedding we do is an original work of art.
To inquire, call us at 505-670-6570 or send us an email.
December 2019
Santa Fe's Magical Christmas
Photo by Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble
Many brides who choose Santa Fe for their destination wedding fall in love with the city during a holiday visit. And of all the holidays, Christmas in Santa Fe is the most magical.
Santa Fe is absolutely enchanting at Christmas time. The first thing you notice is the scent of piñon wood burning in kiva fireplaces along Canyon Road and in people’s backyards. Then there’s the intoxicating aroma and fantastic taste of red and green chili, which even makes its way into the chocolates and candies of local confectioners.
The courtyard of the Palace of the Governors is ablaze with luminarias (piñon wood bonfires) and those charming farolitos, which are small brown bags filled with sand that holds a burning candle. Here you can sip hot chocolate or cider and treat yourself to some fresh-made bischochitos, the New Mexico State cookie. Nearby is the Plaza, where shops stay open after dark and live music can be heard from some of Santa Fe’s best dining and drinking establishments.
The most memorable Christmas event in Santa Fe is the Farolito and Luminaria Walk down the famed Canyon Road, home to over a hundred art galleries and sprinkled with appealing shops and restaurants. On this night, Canyon Road is transformed into a wonderland of lights—electric street lights are turned off, thousands of fairy lights burn, and farolitos line the streets. Carolers sing, huddled around piñon bonfires, and shopowners offer cookies, hot chocolate and cider.
If you ever have an opportunity to visit Santa Fe at Christmas time, by all means, do it! The memories will burn in your heart forever.
Santa Fe, known as the City Different, is a popular spot for destination weddings. If you or a bride-to-be is considering a destination wedding, we would love to talk to you about getting married in the City Different. To inquire, call us at 505-670-6570 or send us an email.
November 2019
Destination Taos, New Mexico
We love doing destination weddings, and what incredible destinations we have to offer—Santa Fe and Taos, to name just two. What makes a destination wedding special is not just the beauty of the place, but the experience people have when attending a wedding there.
New Mexico is known as the land of enchantment, and this refers not only to its gorgeous big-sky sunsets, breath-taking landscapes, and charming adobe architecture, but also to the way you feel here, far from the trappings of modern life, transported into a world rich with culture, art, and inspiration.
Take for example the August wedding of Lindsey and George, who were married in Taos. While the guests mingled at the reception at the gorgeous El Monte Sagrado in Taos Living Resort and Spa, a world-renowned local artist stood at an easel and painted the scene. This painting will be a life-long treasure for Lindsey and George, and seeing its creation was an unusual and memorable part of the reception.
The artist, Ed Sandoval, is a Taos icon as colorful as his paintings, which are described as expressionistic symphonies of color. He is often seen painting at his easel in the parking lot of the Ed Sandoval gallery, surrounded by a circle of curious tourists.
Ed is a passionate painter, and he brings this passion to his work. He can be commissioned for your wedding. Call or email us to learn more. We would love to help you plan a memorable experience for you and your guests. To inquire, call us at 505-670-6570 or send us an email.
September 2019
Getting Married in the City Different
There’s a reason why Santa Fe is called the City Different. In all America, it is a distinctively unique place, abounding in authentic art, architecture, cuisine, and shopping. A visit to Santa Fe is like traveling to another country. It's an excellent choice for a destination wedding with its amazing array of things to do. Here are just a few:
Shopping Santa Fe was awarded the Best Shopping City Award in the Country by 10best.com. Shopping in Santa Fe is an unforgettable experience that will take you into charming historic buildings filled with one-of-a-kind handmade treasures. The famous Canyon Road is lined with amazing galleries and specialty shops.
Spas On the Santa Fe Tourism web site, there are 31 listings for spas. For centuries people have traveled to Santa Fe for its healing and restorative powers. Visitors can go for an afternoon massage, an evening soak in an outdoor hot tub under a gorgeous starry sky, a day-long pampering of facials and wraps, or a weekend or week-long rejuvenating spa retreat.
Museums Santa Fe’s artists and museums are legendary. There are more than a dozen state and private museums in the Santa Fe area, each a unique experience of modern art, traditional art, Native American art, and folk art.
Dining Santa Fe is a food lover’s paradise with its eclectic and award-winning smorgasbord of restaurants and cafes. There are over 400 dining establishments in Santa Fe, ranging from simple to gourmand. Chile-inspired Southwest cooking is abundant, but visitors will also find cuisine from every part of the world in every price range and for every taste.
Outdoors Santa Fe offers skiing in the Winter and hiking and mountain biking in the Spring, Summer, and Fall. Visitors can enjoy one of a dozen golf courses, river rafting on the Rio Grand, and road trips to ghost towns, authentic pueblos, Spanish Colonial villages, historic train rides, and New Mexico wineries.
In 2017, National Geographic’s World Legacy Awards honored Santa Fe with their Sense of Place Award, which recognizes excellence in enhancing the sense of place and authenticity, including the protection of historical monuments, archaeological sites, cultural events, indigenous heritage, and artistic traditions.
Santa Fe is no stranger to accolades—whether as a top place to shop, get married, mountain bike, or eat a burrito. There is soul in the city that is positively enchanting.
If a destination wedding is in your future, consider the City Different. We would love to help you plan a memorable experience for you and your guests. To inquire, call us at 505-670-6570 or send us an email.
March 2019
Transform Your Wedding into a Work of Art
Imagine owning a painting that captures the mood and beauty of your special day. Imagine that the artist creates it right there, live, during your ceremony or reception. Your guests will love the artistic experience, and they may even be captured in the painting.
Live event painters are professional artists who paint a depiction of a wedding or reception as it’s happening. The artist brings their canvas and supplies, sets up at the celebration, and paints a scene that includes the newlyweds, their guests, the venue, and the décor. The painting is delivered to the newlyweds after final finishing touches, which becomes a gorgeous and treasured keepsake.
The exact venue of the painting is decided prior to the event. The artist will consult with you about the best theme for your wedding painting. The first dance is a popular choice. Because receptions tend to last longer than the ceremony, most wedding paintings are created during the reception, where you and your guests can be entertained by the creation process as it evolves throughout the evening.
Couples who commission a live painting are receiving something more than a photograph or video. A painting can capture emotion and ambience; it can tell an entire story.
There are many ways these days to capture memories at your wedding—photographs, video, photo booths, GoPros, live-streaming, social media—but there’s something raw and real about a painting.
Santa Fe is known as one of the world’s major art centers, an ideal place for a live-painted wedding. For details, call us at 505-670-6570 or send us an email.
February 2017
The Surprising Floral Wedding Trend of 2017
When asked about 2017 wedding trends, wedding expert Colin Cowie had this to say: “We’re going to see a lot more greenery in place of abundant wedding flowers. Flowers will certainly never go out of style, but this year they may have to move over for bright and beautiful leaves. It doesn’t hurt that Pantone supported this movement by electing Greenery as their Color of the Year.”
Yes, Pantone just announced its 2017 color of the year, and it’s a zesty, yellow-green color named Greenery.
Many other wedding stylists agree that in 2017, the biggest wedding floral trend is no floral at all. Instead we’ll see simple arrangements of leaves, branches or palms accented with a hint of floral color. For a more dramatic effect, consider incorporating a canopy of greenery that hangs high above guests’ heads.
A refreshing and revitalizing shade, Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings.
It evokes the natural beauty of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the outdoors. Greenery reminds us to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.
Greenery is nature’s neutral. It is a versatile “trans-seasonal” shade that lends itself to many color combinations. It pairs marvelously with neutrals, brights, deeper shades and pastels.
The "zesty yellow-green" shade can be used in a wide variety of wedding details, including but not limited to bouquets, table runners, bridesmaid dresses, boutonnieres, and even your shoes.
We recommend pairing Greenery with lavender, which grows abundantly in New Mexico’s sandy soils. Lavender is very fragrant and has both a relaxing and uplifting effect.