Trend: Sophisticated Monograms

Trend: Global Patterns

Trend: Dramatic Color

What’s your favorite 2010 wedding trend?

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But there’s one cost-cutting measure that seems to leave everyone locked in a heated debate—is it ever okay not to serve a full meal at the reception?

If your ceremony is at 6pm and you plan to serve only cake and champagne, your guests are bound to be disappointed. It’s dinnertime! But what if your ceremony is at 4pm? 9pm?

When does it become appropriate? Does not serving a full meal at a wedding reception make you want to rant or rave?

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When it was time to cut the cake, they traveled around to each table to cut each cake individually. It was a great way to get some special time in with all of their guests, and everyone was thrilled to find out whether they got banana cake or red velvet—either way it was a sweet surprise!

For more divine details, check out some of these fabulous ideas from Jolie Jolie!

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I have a unique problem; I hate cake!  I know that having a wedding cake is an age-old tradition, but it seems silly to spend so much on something I won’t even enjoy eating!  On the flip side, my fiance loves cake, so he, of course, wants to have one.  Would it be strange to have two types of “cakes” (perhaps a traditional wedding cake and a tower of cream puffs), or perhaps no cake at all?  I love dessert and want it to be part of my wedding day, but I also don’t want to have so much dessert that it ends up being a waste.  Help!

Dessert Diva

Dear Dessert Diva,

I’m pretty sure you’re not the first bride on earth who doesn’t like cake.  Although having (and cutting) a wedding cake is a very traditional part of the wedding, it doesn’t mean you have to have it at your wedding.  Because your wedding is just that:  yours.  The real twist in this question is that unlike you, your fiance loves cake.

The best thing here, like most situations where there are disagreements, is to compromise.  There’s nothing wrong with having two “cakes” or desserts with which you can perform the cutting ceremony.  Just make sure to downsize when you order–two small cakes instead of one large one!  It’s nice to give people a choice, plus, you’ll get to perform the cake cutting twice!

You can also have a small, traditional wedding cake for your cake-cutting ceremony and then offer an additional dessert of your choosing that will either be served to guests or put out on the dessert table.  That way, you can have your cake and eat it too!  Good luck!

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Instead of recreating the wheel, I’m going to share a great set of instructions with accompanying photos that can be found here. Although there are a number of steps involved, the process is really quite easy.  And then…voila!  You have a beautiful origami crane.

What’s really special about these cranes is the number of uses for them!  DIY Wedding Projects had a great idea for using the cranes as place cards.  Eco-Chic Weddings suggest stringining the cranes all in a row and hanging them from the celiing–the look is both elegant and modern.  New York Magazine featured a wedding that used the cranes as favors.  Twiggs Bakery and Coffeehouse has a cake on their website that uses the crane as a cake topper! And finally, if you want to really put in some effort, Trek Earth features a paper crane lantern.  (See all images below.)

I’m sure there are countless other options for utilizing the origami crane at your wedding.  Feel free to chime in!

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Several companies offer a faux cake service, which includes a tower of styrofoam cake that is covered in fondant, frosting and icing, with one real tier for you and your beloved to cut as a part of the reception. Then the baker will hand out slices of a sheet cake to all of your guests, essentially letting you have your cake and eat it too.

Since I love food, baking and all other things food-related, I am turned off by the idea of a fake cake. In fact, I posted this photo of a REAL coconut cake by Rebecca Thuss because it just looked too delicious to pass up. But, I can also understand that someone less food-obsessed might be willing to cut their budget by cutting a faux cake instead of the real deal.

What do you think? Do fake cakes make you want to rant or rave?

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• Something Old, Something New featured this absolutely gorgeous wedding cake–since my cake was a giant failure, I can only wish that this had taken its place!

• I love, love, love this post on veils from Weddings Fresh.  The pictures alone are enough to keep me occupied for at least a half hour.

• Snippet and Ink’s feature on the website PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com is perfect for the oh-so-chic Recessionista Bride!

• I also have to give a shout-out to a totally offbeat Wedding Blog…Tacky Weddings.  If you need to unwind from some stressful wedding planning–and get ideas on what NOT to do–check out this hilarious blog!

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From Left to Right, Top to Bottom:  Country Creations Centerpiece; Wedding Paper Divas Floral Patterened Wedding Invitation in Meadow; Green Hydrangeas Wedding Cake from iVillage; Green Umbrella Photo courtesy of Cheap Wedding Favors; Green Hydrangea Bouquet; Green Martinis, Light Green Beads from Beadbonkers; Delicious Irma Pumps in light green; Granny Smith apples.

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