Seaside wedding in York, Maine
Wedding Decorator pal Shruti Mathur has come through again. I think we can officially christen her the Wedding Attender, because she’s got a lot of weddings to attend this summer (even after attending several last year, including one yours truly was also present at) and has promised to document each wedding for your viewing pleasure.
This past weekend, Shruti lets us tag along at a seaside wedding in Maine. Weddings outside California always fascinate me — I’ve seen so many weddings, but in my mind they kind of run together. Possibly, that’s because I decorated a lot of them, so most of them have a style I’m very familiar with. No matter.
The wedding, a Jewish one, had a really gorgeously decorated chuppah, the traditional canopy stretched between four poles. It symbolizes the home that the couple will build together. At the last (and my first) Jewish wedding I attended, the chuppah was held up by four of the groomsmen — I believe. This one was anchored by large flower arrangements, punctuated with bright pink and orange Gerber daisies. Not only that, check out the garland-sides of the chuppah, and the ribbon streaming down the poles! Very festive, very pretty.
It seemed like there were at least two types of guest table arrangements, each with a bright mix of flowers. The one above seems to have a mix of blue hydrangeas, orange roses, plus some blue and purple flowers I can’t identify without some help. 
It’s all in a vase that looks to be lined with a wide leaf — maybe a ti leaf. Below…
You’ve got a similar set up, instead with mostly green flowers rather than bright blue and purple — green-tinged white roses and green spider mums. I also like the trend of putting a colored stripe on the guest table over the table cloth. It dresses it up a bit without going the route of a full overlay. And if you didn’t notice the best detail, that would be salt water taffy scattered around the arrangements. People, candy always works. Trust me. And I love it that they used what was local to the area.
The wedding, by the way, was held at the Dockside Restaurant in Maine. So of course, you have a nice view of the dock.
The cake, I gotta say, is as bright as any of the other flowers used at this wedding. I kind of like it though — it definitely tells me something about the couple, that they’re bright and fun. Decor along the bottom of the cake looks to be orange baby roses, ivy and orange Gerber daisies where the branches start.
Last but not least, the gift table….but it looks a wee bit small. In fact, the decorations and candy take up most of the space! I’m thinking the reason for this is that a lot of people opt to ship gifts straight from the couple’s online registry — which, in my opinion is easier for everyone all around. No wrapping gifts (and messing it up), no hauling it to the wedding, plus no one in the bridal party has to haul it from the reception to the bridal suite, then it has to be hauled from the bridal suite to the couple’s new home. No, no. Get it shipped, people. It’s a lot easier for everyone.
Sweetheart table decorations
Sweetheart tables are simply a table set aside for the bride and groom, away from the rest of the bridal party — as opposed to your traditional long head table at the head of the room at a reception. I’m not sure when this trend began, but I think before my mom’s retirement, I had been decorating sweetheart tables for at least five years.
Why have a separate table from your bridal party? Well, why not? They can be as simple as a small, cocktail table set aside from the rest of your tables, or put on a riser, to connote a place of honor. If anything, even though its the bride and groom’s party, the bride and groom are still the guests of honor.
Above, is a picture of the sweetheart table at a friend’s wedding at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley.
Like I said, they can be really simple. Above, my girlfriend Janet and her husband Albert (who are now expecting their first baby!) had their sweetheart table on a riser, a few yards from their cake, which was also on a riser, at what I believe was the head of the room. The decorations here were simple — a specially designed arrangement for the table, plus the bridesmaids put their bouquets down on the riser, around the table skirts.
Photo by Flickr’s Pure Elegance EventsAbove, the decorator used a square of what looks like champagne-colored organza to make the table pop, before putting what could be bridesmaid bouquets edged with ti leaves as its centerpiece down, then sprinkling the whole table with rose petals. It looks like there are some baby rose bunches pinning the tablecloths down at certain places. Nice.
This was one of my favorite wedding venues, the Friendly Hills Country Club in Whittier. This is a more elaborate sweetheart table, with lots of champagne-colored organza swathing the tabletop edges and draped along the table skirt. The shape of the table was odd — it was like one of the connectors in a curvy buffet table — but it worked out well for the decorations!
And here’s a flashback to one of my first Wedding Decorator entires, Our Lady of Angels Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles. This is probably one of the most elaborate types of sweetheart tables you can have. Not only do you have the special arrangement and draping for the sweetheart table, you’ve got the backdrop and the whole setup on a riser! The only thing left to make this even fancier is a spotlight. I’ve done that before, too, but it is not fun — its just another detail to mind in a set up full of details.
