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Wedding
Centerpiece Ideas and Wedding Reception Inspiration:
Beautiful Wedding Receptions (Pennies from Heaven Series) (Paperback)
Your wedding reception will be the party of your life.
It will be a time to gather all the people who are meaninful to
you and your husband. This book is about creating the wedding
reception of your dreams.
The Perfect Wedding Reception : Stylish
Ideas For Every Season (Hardcover)
Book Description
Once couples decide to say "I do" there
are dozens and dozens of decisions to be made. It's hard to know
where to begin and even more difficult to fit all the dozens of
details together into one wonderful event. Thankfully Maria McBride-Mellinger,
author of acclaimed bridal books, stylishly illustrates just how
to create a dreamy reception that will be forever memorable.
The Perfect Wedding Reception features exquisite
wedding celebrations designed by Maria McBride-Mellinger that
capture the magic of each season in refreshing, contemporary style.
The nuptial adventure begins in a formal spring garden but soon
its off to a beach front for a fanciful summer wedding, to a revolutionary
era stone barn for a rustic fall wedding and finally to a gracious
country home for a candle lit winter wedding feast.
Glorious photos of each location, flowers, menu
selections, table details, centerpieces, bouquets, invitations,
wedding cakes and favors tell the story of each wedding with helpful
tips and most importantly McBride-Mellinger's favorite resources
from around the country that will actually help bring your wedding
reception to life.
Whatever season you choose to marry Maria McBride-Mellinger
offers delightful flourishes to tempt every couple as they plan
the party of their lives and create memories meant to last a lifetime.
Review: Perfection!
As a second-time bride, this was the book that "did it"
for me. My October wedding reception, while not the exact replica
of Ms. McBride-Mellinger's, incorporated as many of her ideas
as I could. This is an absolutely beautiful book which will be
an inspiration to any bride to be that wants a classy, memorable
wedding befitting her chosen season. The settings, invitations,
floral designs, cakes, and small touches are unique and certainly
can be "scaled down" for those on a smaller budget.
Not the end-all, be-all catalogue of a bridal book...but a digestable
and exquisite source of inspiration.
Review: Beautiful pictures, but not enough
different weddings
This book has wonderful pictures of four weddings, one in each
season.
The pictures are truly extraordinary, but they are almost exclusively
of these four weddings, so there aren't tons of different ideas
for each season, rather one "theme" idea for each season.
One thing that disappointed me was that her summer wedding was
a casual one on the beach, so if you want more formal ideas for
a summer wedding you are out of luck. Like other reviewers have
said, most of these perfect presentations would be completely
out of a lot of people's price range, but you could definitely
pull a few ideas that you loved from her spreads and make it work
on a smaller budget. By and large this is a good supplementary
book on reception ideas, with tons of photos and some good "idea"
text (as opposed to "how-to" text.)
Review: OSTENTATIOUS IDEAS FOR EVERY SEASON
BUT NOT EVERY BRIDE
If Kennedy or Vanderbilt is your last name and I mean The Kennedys
and The Vanderbilts, if Bill Gates is your wedding sponser or
if you are a member of the Royal Family then this book is for
you. If you live in the real world you may not want to bother
reading a book that would embarrass even Martha Stewart. Even
if your wedding budget isn't that of a small nation you can uncover
some ideas to use on a realistic day of bliss. But I would leave
out the "Honeymoon bed out in the open" next to a swamp
unless you are marrying Jeff Corwin or the Crocodile Hunter. Look
at page 116 and see if you would like to spend your wedding night
there but McBride-Mellinger says "far from sight of the area's
inhabitants". It's also far from sight of a bathroom,room
service and Walgreen's to get some mosquito spray and close to
sight for anything with four or six legs or even eight hairy ones
that hopefully would be four groomsmen rather than a spider. As
in all the weddings in the book, the cakes are works of art, the
prettiest I've ever seen (pgs 106&107, 214&215 "a
masterpiece" and the chapter on Confections) and the flowers
are magnificent. If you read this book make sure to have a dictionary
for all the $2.00 words as it must have been written with a word
processor in one hand an a Thesaurus in the other. Also, a really
good cook book will come in handy to try and figure out what everyone
was eating. McBride-Mellinger is even so helpful as to tell you
how to dress the "help" as if in this day and time the
guests even know what to wear, where the "help" should
go to the bathroom, and to prepare food incase they work more
then four hours. But do show respect because Maria McBride-Mellinger
has a very high opinion of herself and a much over inflated ego.
"The Perfect Wedding Reception" is that: perfectly ostentatious,pretentious,over
the top and prefectly not for middle class America. The book is
a "perfect" waste of a good tree. For over 30 years
I have been a floral artist and wedding planner with the experience
of over 500 weddings in all parts of the US and Europe.
Review: creative suggestions
This book suggests many creative ways to make your wedding reception
fun and unique. The author describes 4 weddings (one for each
season) thoroughly and with an artist's eye for detail and color.
She also provides an extensive index for all aspects of reception
preparation and planning. The pictures vividly display the character
of each wedding, bringing them to life. I would have prefered
some extra examples with illustrations of decorationg ideas for
each season that were not part of the featured wedding. It would
have been nice to have some more practical examples of possibilities.
The featured weddings are gorgeous but, for people like myself,
a bit out of reach financially. Surely, one can put a creative,
unique twist on some less eccentric styles to make them equally
as special, beautiful and perfect for any wedding.
Review: Very helpful
There are some wonderful suggestions here to make your day special.
You will read this and remember the little things to do. One recommendation
would be to direct readers to Katherine's Song, the wedding song
in Defenders of the Holy Grail (Ken Agori)...this is THE song
for this millenium. Of course, this may belong more at the service,
but at the reception for the first dance, WOW!! THis book is worth
the money...
Review: One of the Best
In preparation for our wedding, I ordered just about every book
that I thought looked appealing and got great reviews, literally
HUNDREDS of dollars' worth of books! This and its companion, The
Perfect Wedding, stood out among the rest.
I liked it for the following reasons:
1. Beautiful pictures of original ideas. There were lots of pictures
and lots of ideas. Obviously you aren't going to find a book that
has absolutely every idea for flowers or cakes (it would be HUGE!),
but the ones that this book included were very nice.
2. Good mix of pictures and text. About 3/5 of the book was pictures
and ideas. It was divided up into 4 sections representing the
4 seasons, so you could get ideas for your specific season (getting
inspiration from the best of your season is a great idea!). The
other 2/5 of the book was resources with phone number, addresses,
websites, etc., so you could actually get ahold of the people
who put together the beautiful things in this book or go to the
places that would give you more of a similar idea.
3. Not just for the wealthy. Granted that I personally am not
too concerned with books geared for my budget, this book gave
ideas for all ranges of budgets. Of course, some of the cakes,
flowers, etc., must have been expensive, but she also gives ideas
that are more budget-conscious.
I would recommend this book, no question. It's better
than Colin Cowie's, on par with Martha's, and definitely much
better than Vera Wang's.
The Ultimate Wedding Reception
Book (Paperback)
Review: Wedding Details (Hardcover)
Book Description
Whatever the setting -- a minimal, modern buffet, an intimate
wedding breakfast, or a sophisticated formal reception -- this
invaluable book is full of elegant and imaginative ideas to help
you transform your wedding day into a magical and memorable occasion.
Throughout the book, clear and concise text is paired with evocative,
inspirational photographs that are guaranteed to capture the imagination.
About the Author
Mary Norden, a succesful textile designer, has been commissioned
by Liberty, Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent.
She has written for Homes & Gardens and is the author of Gift
Wraps: Baskets & Bows and Decorative Embroidery. Sandra Lane
is a successful still-life photographer. Her work appears in magazines
such as Elle Decoration and Homes & Gardens, and she has photographed
several of Mary Nodens's previous books. She lives in London.
Review: Great resource tool
I have a small wedding business and found this book very helpful.
It is a very simple short book but it is loaded with great ideas
for weddings and receptions. Pictures are excellent, lots of new
ideas to try, I would recommend it as a resource guide and was
very happy to receive it as a gift off my wish list.
Review: Big Things Come In Small
Packages
A cute-sized book chockful of ideas! Creative ideas on favor packaging,
table settings, floral arrangements. Inspirational ideas that
can be easily adapted to your budget and style.
Review: Practical and modern-day
ideas
Cute-sized book offering plenty of creative, practical and modern
ideas on wedding favors, table settings, and floral decorations;
beautiful still photography for inspiration.
Creative Wedding Florals You Can Make
(Paperback)
Review: Helpful for Beginners
When my daughter took her ideas for her wedding to our local florists,
the estimates were over $3,000. When we finished laughing, we
bought this book. Even though we had very little previous experience
with florals, with a little practice we were able to make quite
a few of the things she wanted ourselves. And perhaps more importantly,
we were also able to determine what we couldn't do ourselves,
and how best to work with a professional florist.
We didn't use any of the designs from the book, but the clear
photographs and step-by-step instructions made it well worth the
price for the skill development it gave us.
Review: Useful but Sort of Typical
(aka Traditional)
I found this book useful but typical - tradional wedding flowers
with little bits of baby's breath. Some people like the traditional
wedding styles. I like something more modern or Asian. Indeed
this book has good instructions - although I always recommend
building a prototype before you are put on the spot to make the
real thing (I prefer using silk in this stage). If you want a
more traditional wedding floral book, this is a good one. If you
want unique pizazz then I suggest you try Florist's Review - it's
my fave.
Review: an excellent resource
This book provides an excellent overview of wedding florals and
a number of pretty ideas if you need them -- this is a book for
you if you really want to do your own flowers -- not if you want
ideas for spectacular or unique florals for a florist to do. the
instructions are very understandable and easy to execute, for
all the wedding basics: bouquet, boutinnieres, corsages, basic
arrangements.
Review: Bridal Floral Basics for
the Do-It-Yourself-er in You
Let's say you're a prospective bride like me or you know someone
who is. You want beautiful basic floral arrangements, but a florist
seems like a fortune. Well, if you are like me or you know know
someone who is, then this book's for you. Different floral arrangements
for the bride, the wedding party, and extras such as unity candles,
centerpieces and pew arrangements, are all included here. Sure,
they're not super-creative in style, but YOU can be...
Review: Good Instructions, Weak on
Creativity
This is not the book to buy if you are looking for new and creative
floral ideas for your wedding - you will be greatly disappointed.
There are examples of each main different type of bouquet, such
as nosegay, cascade, hand-tied, etc., but the "variations"
shown for each type aren't anything to write home about. Look
for another book if you are hoping to find something stellar and
original that will stand out at your wedding.
On the other hand, if you plan to arrange your own flowers like
I do, the instructions are very well laid out with good detail
and clear pictures....
Review" Excellent how-to information,
but not too creative
The title of this book would lead one to believe that it gives
how-to information for new, fresh, creative bouquets and arrangements.
While the instructions are thorough and clearly written, the arrangements
themselves are more traditional and "floristy" -- they
use a lot of filler, and I think some of them look rather overdone.
The strength of this book is in the instructions. They are laid
out step by step, with photographs of how to construct each arrangement.
The book tells you exactly which tools you will need and how many
flowers to buy. Even a beginner like myself would be able to create
pretty good bouquets and arrangements with these directions.
I bought this book together with "Bouquets:
A Year of Flowers for the Bride," which does have more creative
ideas, but is weak on the instructional part. I recommend this
combination of books to anyone like myself who is looking to make
their own wedding flowers, but does not have experience in floral
design. Both books have their weaknesses, but they complement
each other and make up for each other.
Review: Good Basic, Traditional Design,
How-To Book
From a bride who started by taking 2 years of design classes and
creating her own bridal flowers to now a flourishing wedding floral
business owner who creates custom wedding arrangements for brides
all across the country, this book helped me get started. I review
and purchase a lot of floral reference books for my design business,
and when I started out, this was one of the better books I found
on basic, traditional styles. The book is particularly helpful
for the beginning designer as the clear photos and detailed, how-to
steps are easy to follow. My only suggestion for improvement is
to expand the book (or publish a second book) that lists advanced
techniques and more contemporary, unique designs and florals/materials
for the bride who desires something more unusual and creative.
It's limited in the creativity it offers, but overall, it's one
of the best BASIC books to reference and LEARN from. Good for
beginners and floral students.
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