Winter Candy Time

January was a packed month of winter wedding showcases for us. We were at the Prallsville Mill annual winter show case on the 15th and then we partook in a showcase at Greystone Manor House in Newtown on the 23rd. At both showcases, we indulged our sweet side by highlighting the design of a candy bar. The set came together organically, as most things do, with a wooden bench pulled from an icy front porch, a variety of pink, green, and festive candies, and adorable stamped favor boxes. The thing learned is that it is perfectly fine for design to be inspired by a variety elements: let the world around you inform, let your senses wander and think in color. Candy apple green and berry pink were the flavors of the day.

We found the favor boxes at Micheal's craft store--for a bargin. The stamp was inspired by the timeless bridal trend of using a monogram, but the best part is that guests were encouraged to load up their boxes with sweets to take home to remember the event.

When designing a candy bar let this rule guide you:

Fun. Fun. Fun.

Fun design with ordinary, everyday objects is the best and easiest approach. It is truly fun to breathe new life into daily objects by repositioning them with either like-minded or unexpected objects to create a specific environment.

Have fun designing and have fun dreaming!

Greystone Manor House Showcase

Festive Gingerbread

Maple Pots d' Creme

Gingerbread House Dessert Display

Kerri, our newest addition to the staff at Emily's, has been working extremely hard as a baker and a part time gingerbread house architect . If you've ever attempted to build one of these from the ground up, you know how time consuming, fun, and potentially maddening the whole process can be. Here we share with you, her first two houses along with a few other festive gingerbread ideas and winter trends!

Fall Wedding Images

Summer Showcase

Two Sunday's ago, we hosted a Summer Showcase at Albemarle in Princeton. The day was a lot of fun and featured a variety of local wedding and event vendors and highlighted a few things that we think are fun and exciting including: a digital photo booth, a cappuccino bar, and a customized prosecco bar.

Our prosecco bar featured mango mimosas, strawberry smash, lemon pop, lavendar & sage bellinis, kir royal, and a classic champagne cocktail.

An autumn or winter twist could be spun to create a seasonal prosecco bar anytime of the year. For autumn cocktails you could consider apple cider spritzers and candied ginger sugared rims with a variety of bubbly + juices.

Winter prosecco bars could highlight white cran spritzers, pomegranate, and bloodorange.

Thanks to all who came and to our featured vendors for participating. Special thanks to Brillman's Rental Barn for coordinating the rentals.

Thanks also to our chefs and servers who made the day possible, and to the inner child within all of us, who is responsible for this downright, silly but really fun photo!

Creating a Farm Stand

We wanted to showcase the local produce for this crudite display by designing a creative "farm stand" for guests at this wedding to enjoy. One fun feature of the farm stand is that the centerpiece is a portable clay planter that we potted white petunias in. When potting the petunias we inserted a 2" wide pvc pipe in the center of the soil, so that we could stick the white umbrella into it, thus creating portable shade for food displays.

Things We've Liked: Wedding Spring Season

Spring is a daring time to go for alfresca dining, but one of our spring brides, dared to do it, and the results were stunning.

This wedding took place on the Delaware River in Stockton, New Jersey. The setting is perfectly rustic with the red barn as a back drop.

Crisp white linens and home-made burlap runners (which were perfect in every way), complemented the natural green environment and provided the most dazzling under the stars feel. Additionally, this bride gave all of her guests a variety of succulents; a tribute, surely, to her California home.

Featured above are a cappuccino bar and three separate cakes for dessert. The cappuccino bar was a huge hit. It was a hot day, and because we had an espresso machine and a few shakers, we were able to make all of the guests favorite coffee drinks, ICED!

Instead of opting for a single flavor traditionally tiered cake, this bride decided to offer three unique flavors to her guests. Chocolate-chocolate, chai, and lemon butter cream were the flavors this bride decided to go with.

In summary: you never know what the weather will hold, more is more---not less is more, and people really love their coffee!