On your anniversaries, pull out that list and call your favorite florist. Too, the new bride or wife can order a fresh boutonniere to be present in your room on the honeymoon and all of your anniversaries to come. I once had a bride who had a passion for gardenias. Fortunately she was sensible and recognized that gardenias have a powerful fragrance. One should consider twice before using them in abundance as centerpieces for the dinner tables. Actually one should avoid any floral fragrance that is going to compete with the aromas and flavors of the food. The bride flew her wedding party into San Francisco and hosted them at the world famous Pan Pacific Hotel(Sue Robbins 415 771 8600). The bride and groom ordered gardenias floating in shallow water filled clear glass containers and sent to the rooms of the parents and the wedding party. Later, I called the florist and ordered similar gardenia arrangements to be placed on the couple's nightstand of their honeymoon suite in Bora Bora.

e). Is your wedding or reception taking place in the town hall, the local Elks' Lodge or Knights of Columbus Hall? Not to worry. Cover those pictured covered walls with hanging drapes of fabric from ceiling to floor. Use a color that compliments your wedding flowers and attendants' dresses. Later the fabric can be sewn into table clothes and given as gifts. For an even more dramatic flare, uplight the walls...."wash" them in color.

3. Cake(s):

a). Have different flavors for the tiers. Serve your guests smaller
portions of two flavors.

b). One of my brides and grooms getting married in a California French
Chateau decided to be very bold. They had their cake designer (Elegant Cheesecakes, owner Susan Morgan, www.elegantcheesecakes.com) make a small traditional fondant cake as "the wedding cake". For each dining table, instead of using floral arrangements, Morgan designed individual cakes using fondant and rolled white chocolate (some she colored)shaped into woven baskets containing hand sculpted, edible grapes and grape leaves with a small bottle of champagne wrapped partially in similar fondant or rolled chocolate. After the bride and groom cut THEIR cake and posed for photographs, to the amazement of the guests, a waiter removed the table centerpieces, set them onto serving carts next to each table and began cutting and serving the centerpieces! So realistic were the "basket of grapes and leaves" that the guests did not realize it was dessert!

c). Caketops and Cake Decorations:
(1) Stay away from those ugly white plastic columns (or have the pastry chef cover them with icing)
(2) Instead of the cheap looking plastic and tulle bride and groom
caketop, use fresh flowers, pastry molded and shaped flowers, an elegant Lladro statue, a favorite momento that is precious to the bride and groom. Or, if you or someone close saves "collectibles", consider borrowing a favorite piece or add or start your own collection with your caketop.
(3) Be creative:
Two of my clients had met on a back-packing excursion and began making back-packing trips together. In addition to the wedding cake, we had a groom's cake. The pastry chef created a "hillside forest" with blue food coloring to give the semblance of a stream running through the woods. Ken and Barbie dolls were costumed in back-packing and hiking attire and placed on one of the "trails" of the cake. Another couple had met in a hot-tub (I don't ask too many questions). The groom built a miniature hot tub with a working pump and bubbling water. The wedding cake was created around the "hot-tub" in the center of the top tier. Ken and Barbie were this time outfitted in bathing suits and sat as if relaxing in a whirpool of water bubbling around them.