Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Daily Deals!: Brought to you by the Wedding Channel and the Knot.com

TheKnot.com and Weddingchannel.com have come out with a really cool daily deals program for all you brides!  It is very similar to Groupon and Livingsocial in that they are coupons that vendors offer, at a highly discounted price.  The difference is that these Daily Deals are designed specifically for brides and engaged couples!  There is a new deal offered by vendors almost every day.  You could end up getting almost all the vendors for your wedding for 40-70% off if you go through this site.  What's the catch?  There is none.  This is simply an opportunity for vendors to provide you with a valuable service for your wedding day!  So sign up for Daily Deals on TheWeddingChannel.com and start planning your wedding today!

Check it out!

-Dani G. 

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

As Featured on WeddingVendor.com!

Hi everyone!

Check out WeddingVendor.com today for my published post on candy buffets!  The article highlights the Do's and Dont's of planning a spectacular candy buffet!   WeddingVendor.com is a great resource for brides looking for professionals to assist them in their wedding planning.  They feature multiple vendors with a variety of categories to make the selection process quick and easy!  So check out their website today and check out my article today at the following address

Candy Buffet Tips- WeddingVendor.com!



As always, feel free to contact me at candyshopbuffets@gmail.com or on our contact page with any questions, comments, or if you would like us to start planning your candy buffet!

Enjoy!

-Dani G.



Thursday, March 24, 2011

Candy buffets, as you know, are becoming a popular trend to sweeten up your events!  The most popular events still are weddings, bridal showers, and kids parties!  Well, just this last weekend CandyShopBuffets sent out a candy buffet for Tasha's Bridal Shower.  We designed it and Sherry, Tasha's mom, set it up with some personal touches!  Here are some of the great pictures her mom took!



  To plan your next candy buffet, please contact us at 513-549-0555

Monday, March 21, 2011

Updates!

Hi everyone!

We are getting ready to head into wedding season at CandyShopBuffets!  We have two candy buffets coming up and we will be posting pictures as soon as we can after.  These brides are amazing and both have unique styles.  One is a clean lines/modern look, the other bride has opted for a romantic, lacy look!  Both are going to be beautiful and I am enjoying the opportunity to work on these for them!

Also, our first promotional bridal shower buffet was this past weekend, so we will have pictures of the party soon as well!  Congrats Tasha on your upcoming marriage!

CandyShopBuffets also has a photo shoot for its candy buffets coming up in a week!  We will also post these pictures and keep you updated on when these pictures and our website candyshopbuffet.com will be up and running!

So many new things happening this spring!  Keep your family and friends in the loop and let them know about our company and how we can "sweeten their day"!!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Candy Favor Bags


Here are some more favor bags from CandyShopBuffets!  These are perfect to set out at an engagement party, bridal shower, or sweet 16!  We also use bags such as these as place cards for tables at weddings!






Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Cincinnati Sweets!

Candy has become a way, for many brides to help liven the mood at their wedding.  When guests walk in and see a candy buffet, or a candy favor their eyes light up with excitement!  The whole point of candy at any event is to make people feel like a kid again.  We have several products at CandyShopBuffets that help guests to loosen up and get involved in celebrating!  These are treats that guest will want to take home as favors, and will not be left on the table afterwards.

The first sweets that we photographed are our line of bridal candy favor bags.  They can be customized for any occasion and work the best for bridal showers, engagement parties, receptions, and sweet 16's!

You can add photographs to the table, and cute little sayings to make it a personal "sweet"celebration!

Contact us for more information on ordering these for your event!










Friday, March 11, 2011

Featured Photographer!

Featured today are the pictures of Jamie Sabol from Milwaukee WI.  She has been freelancing for about 2 years now, and does a great job at capturing unique and precious moments on wedding days and every day! Her contact info is at the end of this post if you would like to contact her regarding her services! Take a look at some of her pictures!


There are so many great pictures that she has taken, but these are just a sampling of them! 
If you would like to contact her about her services here is her contact information.

Jamie Sabol 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Groom's Cake?


A couple weeks ago, I featured exquisite and rather expensive wedding cakes for you to take a peak at!  Today I want to look at the groom's cake...yes, a groom's cake :)  A lot of you probably have not heard of it before, and if you have it is probably a foreign concept. It is a tradition that apparently originated in the southern U.S..  Being a northern girl, born and raised in Wisconsin-now settled in Cincinnati, I have never seen one in person.  However, it is a really cute tradition and here is why.

Groom's cakes are meant to be a gift from the bride to the groom, and can be a cool/fun surprise for your man! They are usually drastically different than the wedding cake.  They usually are chocolate, cheesecake, or carrot cake and can be decorated to fit the personality and interests of the the groom!


The Knot

The Knot








Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Candy Buffet Tips!

Since opening CandyShopBuffets this year, I have interacted with a lot of brides who have questions about what kind of candies to choose for their weddings.
The primary candy that every bride wants is ....can you guess??  Chocolate :)  I love chocolate myself and had a lot of it in my own candy buffet in the middle of July!  However, there are a few things you need to remember whether you are doing your own candy buffet or hiring a professional to do it for you.

1. Outdoors or Indoors?

Middle of July would seem, to most people, a horrible time to have chocolate as part of your candy   buffet.  An indoor reception though can make it really easy to keep the chocolates cool.  If you have an outdoor reception anywhere between the months of  May-August I would recommend getting hard candies, and wrapped candies.  Remember though, that even hard candies tend to get "sticky" when left out in the heat.

2.  Order ahead of time!

One of the biggest charges with shipping candy and candy quality is expedited shipping and ice bags for your candy during the summer months.  Most candy stays good for at least 6 months after you purchase it.  I would recommend calling your candy buffet planner earlier than later and discussing early ordering of candy.  If your wedding is in July, you can order your candy in March or April to maintain freshness and to combat the heat!

3.  Matching colors

Make sure your candies match your colors.  If you do not want to go this route, have a "fun" looking theme, such as lollipops, and swirly colorful candies!  Candy Buffets are expensive, there is no doubt about that, so you do not want it to fall flat.  The guest will appreciate wacky and crazy candy as well as color-coordinating themes on your day.

Sweet Drinks!

This is a really fun idea for outdoor weddings!  You could easily use this spring-fall.  Just talk to your caterer or venue about providing the containers and you could potentially provide the drinks!

Cheers!


Friday, March 4, 2011

Bridal Giveaway from Project Wedding!

Project Wedding is giving away free bridesmaid dresses this month!  How exciting right?  All you have to do is enter by March 14th and you will be in the running to have your bridesmaid's wardrobe for free!


Good Luck to all!

Dani G.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Air Plants:DIY Decor

These are really unique and super low maintenance.  Mary Swenson came out with this little DIY, and says that they cost around $5 each!  That is not bad for a centerpiece of a decorative item.  Check it out!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

DIY or wedding planners?


It was not until recently that I have started having pity on wedding planners.  As a former bride, well I guess I still am in the “bridal phase” being less than a year married, I often wondered at why anyone would ever choose to have a wedding planner do their wedding.  I figured it must cost a lot, and they probably take a huge mark up!  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  I have been researching wedding trends, most importantly candy buffet trends for the past year now and most of these women (and men) that plan weddings for a living do not make much more off the top than it would cost you to do it yourself.  One wedding planner in the Cincinnati area, who wishes to remain nameless, told me when I spoke with her 2 days ago that “Brides cannot do it cheaper, which is why they come to us”.  A couple years ago I would have scoffed at that statement, and told her I could totally DIM (Do it myself :) ) for way cheaper.  Now I know better.  Let me explain.
1.       Wedding planners get things at “wholesale price”.  Well, really those of us in the wedding industry know that we get items discounted but not as dirt cheap as you would think.  Since we buy in bulk, we are able to save money here and there, however since all weddings are unique it sometimes is difficult to get things at a discount.
2.       Wedding planners search for deals and typically pass them along to their consumers.  These deals take a lot of time and effort to find, and a lot of gas money driving around town negotiating prices for you (the bride).  This expense is usually not calculated into the price they quote you.
3.       The details take time and money!  How many of you have seen fancy little ribbons tied to baggies, or personalized stamp cards attached to each name tag?  If you did it yourself,  you know how many countless hours you can spend making those.  How much is your time worth? 
4.        Wedding planners typically do not charge excessively more than the product would cost you.
Many brides do not realize that sometimes doing it themselves can be more costly, in total time and money spent, than having a wedding planner do it.


DIY Favor of the day


I came across an awesome idea from project wedding a few days ago, and I thought I would share it with you guys.  They are selling these preserves with the bride and grooms name on it, and I say why not DIY??  If someone you know or perhaps you are a great jam or jelly maker, or love canning up preserves this project might be for you!


All you really need is a label maker, and a creative mind!  Good luck :)