The Finishing Touch — Weddings, Events, Design, Paperie

Recently we shared some tips with (201) Bride on how to select a venue for your wedding day! Check out some of the ways you can narrow down your options to find the perfect location to say ‘I Do’.

Create Your Budget. You certainly need to have an idea of the overall budget for your wedding before securing your venue. A good way of generating an estimate of the amount you will spend on the venue is by splitting your budget in half. Having this number will help eliminate the venues that may be out of your price range and will allow you to focus on those that fit your budget accordingly. Working with your planner to find the location of your dreams and stay within budget is always key!

Ask Yourself, Where and When? Have you always dreamed of a wedding on the beach? Exchanging your vows atop of a mountain? Whether inside, outside or somewhere in between, the date and time of your wedding definitely plays a factor. When booking a venue, know that prime wedding season is April through June and September through November. Pricing is generally higher during peak season and these dates tend to book quicker. If you are working with a tighter budget and are flexible with your date, consider asking the venue if they offer any value dates. These may be limited dates they have not booked in the coming months and may be able to offer a discount.

The Travel Factor. If you are planning to have your ceremony other than at your reception venue, be sure to keep in mind that travel will be involved. This may help eliminate venues on your list that are a bit too far for traveling in a large group. If you have a lot of out of town guests, be sure to allow enough time for travel before and after the ceremony.

Do Your Research! Once you finalize your budget and have a general idea of location and time frame, take some time to do your research. Visiting every venue in the state of New Jersey would be overwhelming – and time consuming! Narrow down your options by discussing how you both envision your day and collaborate. Share your vision with your planner and allow them to offer you some recommendations. Working with your planner to find the best location is a plus as they have experience working with many venues and can recommend locations based upon what you want.

Check out more on (201) Bride’s ‘Getting Hitched’ blog on Bergen.com!

We had the pleasure of working with Domenique & Ryan for their amazing wedding in April at the beautiful Mallard Island Yacht Club on LBI. For their invitations, we created a two-layer invitation in cream matte and navy stock. This custom design featured a seahorse logo adorned with a pearl embellishment.

Three coordinating enclosure cards on textured matte stock included a directions/accommodations card,  reception card featuring an image of Mallard Island Yacht Club, and response card all printed in color laser. Coordinating outer envelopes in textured cream matte stock were created with the return address printed on the back flap.

We look forward to sharing more details from their amazing wedding day on April 14th – stay tuned!!

Special thanks to Yaskovic Wedding + Portrait for these great photos!

We have all seen the film 27 Dresses by now, and we know how it can be to have a closet full of bridesmaid dresses and nowhere to wear them all.

No need to worry!

Dessy Group has launched a new website called NewlyMaid.com where you can send in your old bridesmaid gowns and receive credit toward new ones. You simply request a prepaid envelope from NewlyMaid.com, package it according to the directions given and send over your old dress inside of it. Your dress can be designed by almost any brand, and as long as it is not damaged you will receive anywhere from 30-50% off towards one of their six black dress styles. After the discount, the six black dress styles cost around $75-$100 each. Your old bridesmaid dress will either be broken down and recycled or donated to Clothes4Souls.

This is a great chance to do some shopping, and help others and the environment all at once!

We recently had the pleasure of working with our past clients, Gabby & Mike, on the baptism for their beautiful daughter Amelia. We had such a great time working with them for their wedding day we were thrilled to be on board to work with them on this special event. Baby Amelia looked adorable in her gown, shoes and head band! The baptism was held at the beautiful St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Princeton – the same place Gabby & Mike were married.

After the beautiful ceremony, guests headed over to Camillo’s Cafe for the reception. A Manzanita branch arrangement was set up to display the custom escort cards that were hung with pink ribbon on each of the branches. The room was decorated with pink and white floral arrangements at each table along with custom table names and menus that were also created by our design team.

For dessert, TFT designed a pink, white and silver candy bar for guests to take home a sweet treat. Another great addition to the table was mini cupcakes from The Bent Spoon. Guests also received a favor box to take home a memento from this special day that was wrapped and adorned with coordinating favor tags.

Congratulations to Gabby, Mike and baby Amelia! We wish them all the best!!

Special Thanks to Jenn M Photography for these great photos!

The Finishing Touch wishes a very Happy Anniversary to one of our amazing couples, Jenn & Eliu!

We had such a blast working with this super fun duo and we still love sharing all of the details of their big day.

Best wishes from the gals at TFT!!

Check out this highlight video from their beautiful destination wedding in the Dominican Republic:

We had an absolute blast helping plan and design a fun circus themed 3rd birthday bash! Our good friend Damon from Absolute Media Productions reached out to TFT to help put together a fabulous party for his adorable daughter, Lilia. We were so excited and went straight to work! For the invitation, a 4 x 9 1/4 custom 3-layer invite was created in red, white and teal. A teal RSVP ticket was printed and attached with red & white bakery string and mailed in a deep red envelope.

Before long the big day was here! As guests entered, the room was covered in red and white pipe and drape along with circus caricatures and figures provided by Audience Pleasers. Rectangular tables featuring linens in red and white were adorned with balloons attached to popcorn baskets and surrounded by vintage tickets. At the children’s tables, a variety of coloring books and crayons were placed at each seat. While guests arrived, they signed a guestbook by taking photos in a booth provided by Shutterbooth! After taking their photos, the pictures were attached to a scrapbook for the birthday girl to keep.

After guests enjoyed a delicious buffet luncheon, our friend Arlene from Celebrate with Music came for some musical fun. All of the children (and some adults!) were on their feet dancing and singing to some classic tunes. They also played games like Limbo, Ring A Round and much more!

Once all of the dancing and singing was over, it was time for dessert! An awesome circus tent cupcake creation was made by our good friend Missy at Cupcakes by Missy. The cupcake tower featured cute designs like clowns and tents accompanied with a giant tent cupcake on top adorned with a flag made by TFT. We also had the chance to design a custom candy bar table featuring kisses, M&Ms, pixi stix, whirly pops and more.

We had such a fun time working with Damon, Denise and Lilia on this awesome party – we’re already looking forward to next year!

Check out this fun highlight video from Damon to see the party in action!

Special Thanks to all the Fabulous Vendors:

Venue: Union Beach Fire Co.

Catering: Giusseppe’s

Photography: VeroLuce Photography

Videography: Absolute Media Productions

Decor: Audience Pleasers

Photo Booth: Shutterbooth

Entertainment: Celebrate with Music

Cupcakes: Cupcakes by Missy

We had the pleasure of designing custom invitations and stationery for our super fun couple, Alyssa and Stephen. This beautiful invitation was a 5×7 pocket in shimmer navy that was complemented with a shimmer quartz panel. The invitation design included modern fonts in navy print with yellow accents. Enclosure cards placed in the back pocket included the RSVP, directions and reception details and were printed on coordinating quartz paper.

Coordinating with the invitation design, custom menus were also created for each guest. For the reception, escort cards doubling as favor tags were made in a matching design and attached to caramel apples (yum!).

We wish all the best for Alyssa & Stephen!!

Special thanks to Yaskovic Wedding + Portrait and Captured by Izabela for these great shots!

And they’re off…

Time to break out the derby hats and seersucker suits!

Anonymous Hope will be holding its 2nd annual Kentucky Derby fundraising event on May 5th, 2012 at the Woman’s Club of Ridgewood. We are so excited to share that this year we will be working along with the board at Anonymous Hope in bringing this fabulous event together. Each year, the event is held to raise awareness and funds towards increasing empowerment and continuing education with the goal of reducing poverty in Appalachia, Kentucky.

Founded in January 2011, Anonymous Hope is a new, innovative tax-exempt non-profit organization that provides opportunity to the people of Eastern Kentucky. One of the accomplishments the organization is most proud of is their Scholarship program. This program awards a high school student, wishing to further their education, up to a $15,000 scholarship over a four-year period based on their GPA.

2011 Scholarship Winner Brittany Farmer

For a small suggested donation of $50.00 to support AH, you can indulge yourself in all you can eat dining, enjoy as many mint juleps you can handle and a night full of dancing! There will also be a silent auction, prizes for the person who “bets” on the winning horse, 50/50 and much, much more.  This is an event that shouldn’t be missed!

We are currently accepting Silent Auction items and donations – if you are looking to donate to this event or learn more about how to get involved, please contact us at info@thefinishingtouchevents.com.

Follow Anonymous Hope on Facebook!

Anonymous Hope’s 2nd Annual Kentucky Derby Party

Where: Women’s Club of Ridgewood, 215 Ridgewood Ave. Ridgewood, NJ 07450

When: Saturday, May 5th, 2012    4:00 PM -10:00 PM

Suggested Donation: $50.00 pp

Attire: Dress to Impress!

Ladies ~ Dresses and large Derby hats

Gents ~ Suits

We have had the pleasure of working with our lovely bride-to-be Rosemarie over the past year in bringing her big day together – so when we were asked to provide some decor for her beautiful bridal shower we were beyond excited! The TFT team created a custom candy bar and signage to complement the pink, sage and gold theme. It was an amazing event to be a part of and it was so great to see the bride-to-be so happy. Check out some pics of the dessert table and signage designed especially for Rosemarie’s bridal shower!

Wishing all the best for Rosemarie and Robert and looking forward to their big day on June 16, 2012!