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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Emerging Trends - Heavy Hors D'eouvres in Lieu of Buffet

Hello everyone!

Today I want to discuss some options that I think are a fabulous idea to cut down on catering costs. Of course, the most expensive option for your reception will be to have a plated meal, after that comes the buffet. And then, for some reason, a lot of people skip straight to a cake and champagne event on a Sunday afternoon! Wh



You can still feed your guests and save money. Although the economy is picking up, there are still a lot of engaged couples that are looking at having to either drastically cut their guest list or become creative about food service. As a planner, I know that the most cost effective route is to pair down the invitees. However, this isn't always possible or even desirable.

Therefore, the next best thing you can do to be a little more cost effective is to do heavy Hors D'eouvres in place of a buffet. This means having several stations set up throughout your event space with appetizers that are very filling. Having hosted beer or wine also helps tremendously.

For this type of reception, I recommend doing a variety of dishes! Mini-cheeseburgers (known as sliders) and fries, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, mashed potato bars with all the yummy fixins' or Asian pot-stickers and rice! Heck, you could do something fancy like mini-Beef Wellington or Mexican Taquitos. Your guests will definitely be fulfilled, especially if they've been imbibing. We often do this for industry events, and trust me, you feel like you've been served a dinner.

Psssstttt. Here's a secret. Later on in the evening, when everyone's starting to get hungry again from all the drinking and dancing...order Pizza's from your favorite Pizzeria. Most catering companies/venues will let you do this. You might incur a minimal service charge either by your caterer or venue, however, it will allow you to have fed your guests during the normal "meal" hour and add some welcomed munchies during the dance portion of your reception!

Nobody will go home feeling deprived and you will have had a fantastic reception with a bevy of different cuisines! How can you go wrong? Personally, I love a grilled cheese sandwhich and some tomato soup, at a wedding or not. :)


Have fun planning!

PHOTO CREDITS: ONEWED.COM (SLIDERS/FRIES), ONEFINEDAY.TYPEPAD (MINI GRILLED CHEESE) HEROLEGALSEAFOODS.COM (MINI BEEF WELLINGTON),MARIE'S GOURMET BAKERY (POTSTICKERS), ATYOURSERVICECATERING (TAQUITOS)



Monday, January 7, 2013

Vendor Spotlight - Wild Love Photography

2012 was an amazing year for Wonderful Day Weddings! I worked with some fantastic clients and met a lot of new vendors in the process. One of them is Megan Eckers of Wild Love Photography. I was lucky enough to work with her at one of the most beautiful settings in Minnesota, the lovely Camrose Hill Flower Farm for Dave & Ashley's September nuptials.



The day went by tremendously fast! There was a lot of set up, and really fun details so I wasn't able to chat too much with Megan. We had emailed back and forth and talked for a minute or two and she struck me as  a very down to Earth personality. In addition to that, Megan was also clearly passionate about her craft.

Needless to say, she got some amazing shots of the wedding and I'm so excited to share my favorites with all of you.
 I wanted to find out more about Wild Love Photography and how Megan became the talented professional she is today. So I asked her a few questions about how she got started in the wedding industry.

Wild Love Photography started as a hobby. Megan took a black and white film photography class in school but she never saw it as a career choice. However, that changed when her husband bought her a DSLR as his wedding gift to her. How fitting that she ended up being a wedding photographer! 
"I was browsing through an issue of Rangefinder magazine and it was all about weddings. It hit me like a ton of bricks that I wanted to be a photographer. After that, I talked about photography nonstop to anyone who would listen and  photographed anyone who would let me." Says Megan. One of her close friends asked her to shoot her wedding and her journey into wedding photography began. 

Wild Love Photography specializes in weddings because she thrives in chaotic environments and works well under pressure. (I seriously think  those of us in the wedding industry are secret adrenaline junkies because we love trying to beat the clock and keeping everything rolling.)

Megan gave this insight about being part of the wedding day. "I've always liked making order out of chaos and it is really incredible to witness the happiest day of someone's life. It's kind of magical, for lack of a better word, and I haven't shot a wedding yet where I didn't cry." 

When I asked her what her favorite thing about wedding photography is, Megan replied with a really great insight into why she's so passionate about this industry. "My favorite thing about being a photographer so far has been how much it has allowed me to get to know people. I don't like to give too much direction when I shoot couples because I've found that after we all get over that initial awkwardness, people will show you who they are if you let them.  I love to ask questions to get to know people, but more than that I like to just step back and give them room to be themselves together.  If I'm lucky I get to see how they are together when they're alone, and when I get to document that I consider it the most wonderful gift."


Like most photographers, Wild Love Photography is evolving. She started out using a Nikon but switched to Canon based on her feeling that it produced more aesthetically pleasing images. "Currently I am shooting a 5D Mark III with a Mark II and a 60D as backups.  I primarily use the 35mm 1.4 lens when shooting, it's my favorite, but when I do switch it's either for the 50mm 1.2 or the 24-70mm 2.8, depending on the situation I'm in." In addition to honing her craft, Megan belongs to the Professional Photographers of America. 

Keeping things simple, Wild Love only offers one package. It includes an engagement session, a DVD of the engagement images, full wedding day coverage by two photographers and an online gallery of the wedding images.  All prints, albums and canvases are produced a la carte after the wedding based on the couple's needs.  A DVD of all wedding images are available for sale as well.


I'm so happy to share these images with you and I hope that you check her out and consider her for your wedding! Wild Love Photography.

Finally, I wanted to say big thanks to Dave & Ashley for their amazing wedding and letting us both be a part of their day as vendors. It was beautiful and befitting of such a wonderful couple. Cheers!



Happy planning!






PHOTO CREDITS: WILD LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY