Love and Lobster Coastal New England Weddings

In honor of Halloween, we thought we’d round up some holiday-themed décor ideas. Since brain-eating zombies and wart-nosed witches don’t exactly scream “wedding,” we opted for the lovely, utterly unspooky pumpkin.

Jack-o-love

When it comes to carving pumpkins, eerie faces are only the beginning. Why not whittle your monogram into a few of the gourds and illuminate them for a seasonal luminary display? Get some paring pointers from Martha Stewart. Or, etch a delicate leaf motif into a few pumpkins and scatter them around your ceremony or reception site.

Table treatments

You didn’t think Martha had just one pumpkin décor project, did you? Of course not. Check out her white pumpkin-as-vase DIY centerpiece and her glittery gourd table decorations. Equally as simple and striking is this idea to use mini pumpkins as escort cards. Pin a card to each one, and poof, your table assignments are done.

Faux flourishes

Pumpkins don’t have to come straight off the vine to make an autumnal impact. These yarn-wrapped foam pumpkins will last long after the wedding, perfect for dressing up a front porch or fireplace mantle.  And Mr. and Mrs. pumpkin cake toppers? Yes, please.

For a little treat with these decorative tricks, take a look at this no-holds-barred Halloween wedding. These two love birds took the Jewish custom of smashing a glass under the chuppah to a whole new level, subbing in — you guessed it — a pumpkin.

We already know that Maine’s wedding vendors are a talented and professional bunch. But what we don’t know is how 2011 is shaping up for them and what they expect for their businesses next year.

That’s why Love & Lobster has teamed up with Real Maine Weddings, the Maine Wedding Association and Tide Creative, a Maine-based wedding marketing and consulting firm, to conduct the State of Maine Wedding Industry Survey.

“While we have lots of stats about weddings in Maine, this survey will give us a more intimate look at how our small businesses in the industry are doing,” says J Sandifer, founder and owner of Tide Creative. “As we continue our discussions with the Maine tourism department in Augusta, this information will be valuable in driving the effort to bring more destination weddings to Maine.”

The survey is open to any Maine business that works in the wedding industry, and we invite each and every one of you to participate. Spend about a minute answering 11 quick questions, and you’ll be among the first to learn the results by the end of November. The survey ends on November 4th.

Plus, we’re offering three prizes to help kick your booking season into high gear. We’ll draw winners at random for advertising spots on yours truly, Love & Lobster, as well as on the websites of Real Maine Weddings and the Maine Wedding Association.

We want to hear from you! Please, take a moment to tell us about your business at www.stateofmaineweddingindustrysurvey.com.

Kate Middleton, Mena Suvari, Lily Allen, Miranda Lambert, Chelsea Clinton — the list of celebs opting for a wedding-day wardrobe change is longer than Kim Kardashian’s aisle runner.

Changing into a second (or in Kim’s case, third) dress for the reception has emerged as a trend for a number of reasons. For many, a lighter, shorter dress allows greater ease and comfort when it’s time to hit the dance floor. Yards of tulle just won’t do when Rihanna’s “Only Girl in the World” starts pumping out of the speakers. Plus, two dresses mean twice the style options. If you’ve chosen a classic gown for your ceremony, but fell in love with a vintage frock or flirty number while you were shopping, you don’t have to choose.

For some brides-to-be, wearing more than one dress makes about as much sense as marrying more than one groom. After investing all that time and money into a once-in-a-lifetime gown, why not enjoy it until the last possible moment? To each her own.

If you fall somewhere in the middle, consider donning a reception dress just for your exit. Traditionally, brides and grooms changed into travel wear after the reception as they headed off for their honeymoon. Even if you’re not jetting off to Fiji on your wedding night, you’ll welcome a more comfortable dress for an after party or a long drive to your accommodations for the night.

Other brides make the sartorial switch after dinner winds down, while some change into a second gown during the band-to-DJ transition. Just decide which dress you’d like to be wearing for the majority of your photos. A cocktail dress can make a great choice, but remember that you’ll blend in with your guests more. For a more bridal option, try ordering a bridesmaid’s dress in white.

Changing into a second dress doesn’t have to blow your budget, either. At H&M, we found this knee-length number for $80 and a playful tulle dress for a mere $25.

We have been following Brooklyn graphic designer and handmade talent Jen Pepper as she settles into life in Maine and plans her coastal New England wedding.

Now that we have managed to piece together the big pieces in our wedding day puzzle, it’s time to move on to the fun stuff. Oh heck yes! We get to think about the details!

Because our reception venue is a raw space, we are responsible for all of the rentals that turn the room into a functional space. There are plenty of traditional rental companies in the area who can provide the banquet tables, bamboo chairs, colored linens and white platters, but we wanted something a little more “us.” So we did a little googling for “farm table rentals,” and came across New England Country Rentals.

Browsing through their website their tables looked amazing, so we sent off an email to see if it was possible to check them out in person. Kelly sent us back a quick reply and a few weeks later (because we were super busy) we jumped in the car and headed down to Scituate, MA to see these tables for ourselves.

When we met up with Kelly at their homey showroom It was like being a kid in a candy shop. Not only were the tables everything I had hoped for, they also had some new small tables (perfect for the cake and guest book) long tall tops (the right size for cocktail hour) and they even had mason jars to rent. The mason jars really were the icing on the cake for us, we really wanted them, but had no idea what we would do with them after the wedding was over; maybe take up pickling?

I also brought with us a rather large candle centerpiece that we had already bought before we saw the tables. I was so happy to see that it fit with the decor perfectly. I highly recommend bringing anything you are trying to match, or to get a sense of scale when you go shopping for your tables and other rentals. It’s always good to know something works, or doesn’t, while there is still time to change it.

We also took pictures of the tables so we could look at them again when we got home, and to be able to show to florists as well as the caterer so they can get a sense of what will be there on the day of.

I have to say picking out the china somehow made everything feel a little more real. Maybe it was just being out of the house planing our wedding together. Or maybe it was the smell of sea air as the showroom overlooks the bay. Something that day made everything come alive and I am so excited for what’s next.

Previous posts in this series:

I’m engaged. Now what?

Decisions, decisions

How to find a wedding venue without leaving the couch

Finding a wedding venue that won’t break the bank

The wedding guest list

Let’s get organized

Wedding weight loss

Finding what’s right for you

Clockwise from top center: Martha Stewart Weddings, Amanda Nichole Photography, Once Wed DIY, emilie inc., Marianne Taylor Photography, 85 Flowers, Photo by Susan Jackson, Kiss The Groom

At Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ wedding earlier this month, 750 hand-applied Swarovski crystals sparkled in the sunlight as Kim made her way towards the altar. But the precious gems weren’t on the reality TV diva’s dress or on her veil – they were under her feet.

Kim and Kris (OK, just Kim) decided to incorporate a traditional aisle runner into their lavish ceremony. Its length was decidedly nontraditional, at a whopping 196 feet, as was her choice to use no other décor for the aisle. Those crystals, featured in two dazzling monograms on a glam black and white runner, really had to make a statement.

But sometimes, aisle runners can make the wrong kind of statement. It’s all too easy for a bride to trip over a poorly secured runner, and they’re often unnecessary. Runners were originally used before the advent of road paving, to protect the gown from dirt that guests tracked inside from muddy streets. That’s a far less common problem today, though runners can be helpful in delineating an aisle at an outdoor event.

If you do plan to use a fabric runner outside, back it with something flat and solid, such as plywood. Nothing interrupts a romantic moment like your heels sinking into the grass.

Aside from the potential hazards, remember that your photographer will be shooting from behind you during the ceremony. If the runner has slipped or bunched during the processional, you’ll see it in your photos.

To achieve the dramatic effect of an aisle runner without the fabric, line your walkway with torches or striking floral arrangements, or try scattering leaves or rose petals instead. They may not be Swarovski crystals, but you’ll feel just fine walking on top of them.