Want to trim your bar bill? Save big by reducing the main ingredients to just Vodka, for example. Then, just stock up on an assortment of mixers. You’ll still be able to offer a variety of cocktails without blowing your budget.

Are you planning on taking engagement pictures but not sure where to go? Although you and your fiance will be the focus of your photo shoot, the location you choose is key. It will provide a backdrop and set the tone for your pictures: playful, romantic, trendy, creative…

Out of ideas on where to go? We asked our favorite photographers to share some of their engagement shoots featuring different locations in NY and NJ…and here they are! Notice how the locations help tell the couple’s story.

Nanuel Mall Carnival, Nanuet, NY | Milestone Images

Highline Park, Meatpacking District, NY | Milestone Images

Central Park, NY | Hera Studios

Columbus Circle Metro Station, NY | Hera Studios

Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY | Erin H Photography

Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY | Erin H Photography

Strawberry Fields in Central Park, NY | Angelica Criscuolo Photography

Central Park, NY | Angelica Criscuolo Photography

SoHo, NYC | Joseph Pessar Photography + Co.

Little Red Light House, GW Bridge | Joseph Pessar Photography + Co.

Hoboken, NJ | W8 Photography

Fosterfields Historial Farm, Morristown, NJ | W8 Photography

Favors? I LOVE them, Carina not so much.

While favors are a great way for your guests to remember your day by, some of your guests may forget the favor behind and others still won’t want it. So what do we recommend? Edible favors. They are always a big hit!

We recently planned a wedding where our bride wanted to pay homage to the groom’s heritage. We came up with the idea of Spanish tile cookies. They were hand painted and quite delicious. We placed them at each place setting, adding to the table scape. Here they are, courtesy of a cake dream.

Spanish Tile Cookies | a cake dream

Other ideas include:

Candy Bars – still a big trend and always seems to bring out the “kid” in guests of all ages

Photo Booths – add a fun element to the party and guests can take the picture home that night

Food Trucks (including snacks, ice cream or a coffee bar) – offer an unexpected element at the end of the night.

While these may not be thought of as “favors” per se, they offer great take aways for your guests and will add impact to your event. Ultimately, favors won’t make or break your wedding. We have planned many of them without them and no one has ever asked, “Where are the favors?” The key to a great favor is that it speaks to who you are as a couple and that it is in line with your wedding day theme/vibe.

So, are you planning on having favors at your wedding? If so, what did you choose?

We wanted to share with you our recent feature in Wedding Planner Magazine. The article covered the Top Wedding Trends for 2012. Here, at Luxe, we love incorporating new ideas in the weddings we plan.

Not only are you looking for new ways to distinguish your wedding from all the others, but your guests are hoping to see something different as well. We’ve seen a wave of creativity in confections with the growing trends of dessert tables, cupcake towers and cakes with brilliant color and design. Dessert is a great place for personal expression. What better way to end the party than with a little something unexpected?

For many years, cupcakes have been the alternative to the traditional wedding cake but now cupcakes are being replaced by cake balls. A cake ball is a mixture of cooked cake and frosting, shaped into a ball, coated with a hard shell and finally hand decorated. They are normally about the size of a golf ball. If you add a stick it will then become a cake pop. How do I incorporate these into my wedding, you ask? Have a cake ball table. Stack them high like a tower or use various platters of different shapes and sizes to display them. They can also double as favors and then the guests get to take them home. This is a great option for the less traditional bride who is unafraid to make a statement, you know, the “Luxe Bride.”

These yummy red velvet and carrot cake flavored cake balls were courtesy of Sweet Jane Lynn, “Makers of the Traditional Cake Ball.”

Photographs by: Lauren Elle Photography

Congratulations!  You just got engaged!  Now what?  You will quickly realize that perfect strangers, family and friends will begin offering you unsolicited wedding advice.  We, at Luxe,  wanted to give you the BEST advice that will help you all the way through the planning process. People throw events all the time with large and small budgets and ideally everyone would like all of the details to come together perfectly.  Your wedding is the most important party you will ever throw. And it is, for the most part, the only time where you can gather all of the people you love most…so there’s a lot of pressure for it to be “perfect.”

Well, I recently came across an old New York Magazine Fashion Article entitled “If Kimora’s Your Boss, Spell Her Name Right.”  Her name was misspelled under the logo of her designer clothing line at a Baby Phat after party. The funny thing is that no one noticed, not even Kimora!  The most intriguing thing was that it was the author of the article who pointed out the mistake to her.

I immediately thought…this is exactly what happens at weddings. Even if your wedding is perfect in your eyes, inevitably, someone will point out that it wasn’t.  They will complain that their name was misspelled on their escort card, that the music was too loud or that their champagne didn’t come at the right time. So, here comes our advice to you::  “YOU CAN’T AND WON’T PLEASE EVERYONE AT YOUR WEDDING.”  Therefore, focus on what’s important to you and your fiance and don’t lose focus of what your wedding is all about.  Of course, you’ll want to consider your guests (older guests, guests in a wheel chair, vegetarians, etc) but by keeping a healthy perspective you can be perfectly pleased with your day.  At the end of the day, the only thing that truly matters is that you married the one that you love!

Every vendor you meet with will tell you that they are the most important part of the event. The photographer will say nothing else will last after the wedding. The DJ will say no matter how good you look or the food tastes, the wedding isn’t fun if no one is dancing. We will tell you, though, that if you want to make your event look fabulous, you must use lighting. No matter where you are getting married, when you walk into the room and there is lighting you and your guests will be wowed. Lighting takes your event and adds a soft feel to it. Lighting makes everything more romantic and yet dramatic. It highlights the good and can easily hide the bad.

Unless your wedding is outdoors and during the day, here are a few lighting basics to keep in mind:

1.  Basic packages will start at $3,000 and can go all the way up, as with anything else you can find a handful of professional vendors with prices starting a little lower.

Lighting Terms to Know:

Basic Lighting – lights up the perimeter of the room with the color of your choice. You can add designs, projections, artwork and scenes on the walls or floors.

Intelligent Lighting – goes beyond the traditional, stationary lighting and creates a party vibe.

Color Wash – fills the whole room with the color of your choice.

Gobo - projects a specific design or image somewhere in the room , ie: monogram or recurring design.

Pinspotting - highlights specific items to showcase them and draw attention to it.

LED’s - uses incandescent light bulbs and can change color throughout your event.

2.  Some DJ Packages offer lighting and if you are really lucky, you have picked a venue that already has basic lighting installed. Some floral companies and designers also offer these services.

3.  Once you’ve selected a lighting company, they should go out and inspect your venue to ensure that they will have enough equipment on your wedding day (unless of course, they have worked at your venue before).

4.  Lighting can change the look of your linen color with lighting, add texture to the room with lighting design, by pinspotting the centerpieces it adds depth and if you drop a design on the dance floor you will add even more drama.

5.  If you make the room a little darker than most people think it should be, you will add a romantic/sexy mood to the event. Pinks and Ambers enhance the skin colors and tones of you and your guests. Violets and Blues are rich; Reds can warm up the environment; White is great to draw the eye to spot decor.

2011 was an amazing year for Luxe Events…and we look forward to an even better 2012! Wishing you all a Happy New Year – full of blessings, happiness and above all, LOVE!

Sequins add a glamorous touch to just about anything! I’m slightly obsessed with them this season. Here are some ideas for incorporating them in your wedding day details.

Rehearsal Dinner Dress

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1.  Narrow down what you want.  If you are like me, you love variety. If I had it my way, I could go to a Thai restaurant and order noodles but my appetizer would be hot wings and then for dessert I’d have red velvet cake topped with Baileys ice cream. If you love food, it may be hard to commit to one type of food on your wedding day. Just ask yourself a few questions: What food makes me feel at home? What foods would my guests appreciate? What food do we enjoy as a couple? Once you find out what you want, you will be able to narrow down your selection of caterers.

2.  Decide what’s important to you.  No matter how large or small your budget is you need to do what makes sense for you. For example, if you cringe at the thought of making your guests sit down for a plated meal, have a cocktail reception. When done right, no one goes home hungry. If you could care less about the food and would prefer your guests to just eat cake, splurge on a Viennese hour. Always remember you have options.

3. Schedule a tasting.  Although you may trust your recommendation from your friend or event planner, their preferences may be different from yours.  You may like your food with less seasoning. If you typically eat less salt, some things may seem salty to you. When you are at your tasting, be verbal about each dish and what you want more of or less of.  For example: did the garlic potatoes need a little more garlic? A tasting is your chance to get exactly what you want.

4.  Get extra opinions.  Your caterer may allow you to bring others to your tasting. Keep in mind the more people you bring, the messier it gets. Too many opinions may leave you confused and frustrated.  If you and your fiancé want others to join, keep it to a maximum of 2 additional people and only bring those whose opinion you trust.

5. Presentation is everything. It doesn’t matter who made the dish or how good it tastes, you eat first with our eyes. A good caterer knows that every meal tastes better when it is presented in an innovative way.

Not sure if you want to wear a veil on your wedding day? These bridal headpieces are SO luxe, they just might upstage your wedding dress!

LOVE them as much as we do? Check out more bridal headpieces on our Facebook album.

It’s Wedding Wednesday and we have a big announcement to make! Our team at Luxe Events is growing – McEmsara Quesda, former owner and principal event planner of Without a Hitch has joined Luxe Events as co-owner.

McEmsara (pronounced Mumsara) and I met (and immediately clicked) in August 2009, when Luxe Events had just officially launched. Since then, we had the opportunity to collaborate on many weddings and events. We quickly realized that, not only did we really enjoy working together, we both brought different strengths to the table. Our skill sets provided a nice balance for our work and it was because of our combined resources and industry connections that our events were more successful and, ultimately, our brides were happier. A business merge became our next logical step. We truly believe that together and as a unified company, we can offer brides so much more than we can individually. Our focus continues to be – and will always be – the service we provide our brides. This will only be magnified as we continue to work together to educate and support our current and future brides.

Professional Bridal Consultant as recognized by the Association of Bridal Consultants with a degree in Psychology from Montclair State University; Former owner of Without a Hitch for the past 7 years.

A little bit about how McEmsara got started…

“The truth is I’ve always been a wedding planner. Since I was little, I was always fascinated with weddings, the food, the décor, the gowns and the cakes. I was always reading wedding magazines. When I got married I had a clear vision of what I wanted for my wedding but I didn’t know how to get it. While I had help from family and friends, I did not have a professional wedding planner to guide me through the process and give me the resources I so desperately needed. So, I got married but was not completely happy with my wedding. It wasn’t until that same year in 2004, while watching David Tutera’s “Party Planner,” that I saw someone doing exactly what I wanted to do – and had been doing for family, friends and organizations for many years! It was at that moment I decided to pursue a career in event planning. I did and haven’t looked back since!”

And why her work with brides is so meaningful…

“My heart goes out to brides. It is such a critical and emotional point in your life. Not only are you making a decision to connect yourself with someone for the rest of your life, you are probably spending the most time and money you have ever spent on one day. But in order to have it be perfect you have to trust and rely on so many other people to make it all happen. Only you have a clear picture in your mind of what you want. I am an excellent listener and you will be amazed at my patience. My job is to see your vision as clearly as you do, to advocate for you, help you, remind you of the most important things throughout the process and to help each of your vendors see your vision as well so that we can make it a reality. That’s how I make the magic happen.”

Please join me in giving McEmsara a warm welcome!

For anyone who gets excited about this holiday have no FEAR you can incorporate Halloween into your wedding without it being morbid or weird! The key is to think outside the box. Instead of doing orange and black try orange and white, eggplant and orange or my favorite red and black.

LUXE TIP: When using color if you use a large amount of one color it will appear and feel more lush.

To give your wedding that special Halloween touch, mix it up a little. Have your sweets table mimic the wedding colors and for a fun twist give everyone trick or treat bags for serving. Are you a Tim Burton fan? Why not do a CORPSE Bride cake. Be daring and change into a red dress for your reception. Wear a black head piece down the aisle. Find SPOOKY names, places or movies to name your tables. Incorporate an element of thunder to the lighting and enter your reception with a little smoke. Keep the décor simple and elegant but express yourself and BEWARE not to over do it. Happy Halloween! And remember, be classy not CREEPY!

September = back to school time.  Fortunately for us, our school days are over.  But here at Luxe, it’s back to blogging!  It may seem like we’ve been missing in action all summer, but we’ve been busy working behind the scenes to offer you more of the content and services you’ve been asking for.

We also spent our summer days putting the final touches on some fabulous weddings… and last but not least – I, myself, got married just 2 weeks ago!  Having insider knowledge of the wedding industry was a big plus when it was my turn to be the bride…and it’s that insider knowledge that we want to share with you so you can have the wedding day you’ve been dreaming of!  Stay tuned…

It’s been a little over a week since the Royal Wedding and what a wonderful opportunity it was for all of us to “attend” together. I hope that you were able to watch it and that it offered you inspiration for your memorable day.   So what can we learn from the Royal Wedding?

1. You can still honor family traditions while adding modern touches to make it yours.

Kate and William had additional pressures that luckily, most of you don’t have – traditions of the royal family that had to be followed. However, I was impressed with their ability to still put their own spin on their big day.   For example, Kate did not have any bridesmaids. She only included her sister, Pippa, as her Maid of Honor and a few flower girls.  Pippa wore a white bridal inspired gown – not something you see very often.  Kate’s lily of the valley bouquet was also on a smaller scale than typical bridal bouquets.

2.  A wedding day timeline is essential.

It was truly remarkable that an event of this magnitude stuck to its published schedule.   Now just because you aren’t inviting 1900 of your closest family and friends doesn’t mean that you don’t need a wedding day timeline.   Your timeline will keep the day’s activities organized and will keep your bridal party and vendors on the same page and on schedule.

3.  You’ll need a wedding planner for your peace of mind.

Just think about this for a moment…did William and Kate have to worry about the load-in process or the set up of the 20 ft trees in Westminster Abbey?   Or whether all the guests were seated and in place just in time for Kate’s big entrance?   Or whether the coaches were on time to pick up and drop off the bridal party and their immediate family members?  They didn’t! Their planners and staff worked behind the scenes to make it all look as seamless as it did.   Now would you want to oversee all these details AND make executive decisions on your wedding day, while you’re busy getting ready?  I didn’t think so!  The good news: you certainly don’t have to be royalty to get this royal treatment!  See our Full Service Wedding Coordination package for more details.

We hosted our bridal shower tea party at the Harmony Tea Room in Westwood, NJ last month and we wanted to share our pictures with you.  We hope you’ll find some inspiration for your next party! We decided on a vintage theme and here’s what we came up with:

In collaboration with:

AART Event Planning & Design

Florist: Blossom and Bee

Photography: PDP Photography

Favors: Favors by Crista Marie