Wedding Favors

Wedding Favors ~ Scealu Sea Side Collection

May 4, 2011 By Maureen Chapdelaine 1 Comment

Last summer The MOB Blog featured a MOB Favorite ~ Scealu Wedding Favors. Tina White, owner and designer for Scealu has added new items to her collection including menu cards, table cards and chair decorations.

Tina writes, “I wanted to add some new ideas to expand the line, offering a more comprehensive and coordinated product line. It’s great fun to be able to shake things up and personalize more pieces.”

If you are planning a sea side wedding, or hosting a beach themed event take a moment to enjoy Tina’s creations.

“Scealu opened in 2007, with the vision to create a unique and luxurious line of handcrafted, sea-inspired wedding favors. My intent was to design a quality driven product that encompassed my passions for art, design and love of the sea…..into one product. I continue to handcraft everything in my line and pursue avenues that will offer my clients a comprehensive line of coordinating pieces.”

Please visit the Scealu website for more information on these personalized sea-inspired wedding favors. www.scealu.com

Filed Under: Wedding Favors Tagged With: Mother of the Bride, Wedding Favors, wedding planning

Wedding Planning ~ The Candy Buffet

February 4, 2011 By Maureen Chapdelaine 1 Comment

Today’s yummy post is written by MOB Blog author Kim Francis. Thanks Kim!

When my daughter became engaged & we began all of the wedding planning she knew that she wanted to have a candy buffet. Not only did we feel this would serve as a great gift for our guests but a fancy candy buffet would also function as a beautiful decoration at the reception.

We loved the idea of creating a Christmas theme candy buffet and went straight to work creating the buffet of her dreams! The colors she chose for her wedding were red, black & silver. She insisted that all of the candy we purchased had to be in these colors in order to make it to the buffet! We also knew we wanted a variety of containers to not only hold the candy but also be able to showcase the candy. We began purchasing containers everywhere from antique stores, yard sales to dollar stores. When purchasing your containers there is no need to spend a huge amount of money on apothecary jars. They are very fragile & you really do not need the lids. Trust me that is just something that you will worry about being broken!

Another lesson I learned while preparing for the buffet was that all the jars do not need to be exactly alike! The differences in sizes & shapes help to showcase the candy & make it stand out, giving it a “wow” factor. We also found after studying many candy displays that it was important to display your jars at different heights & levels to make it appealing to the eye & more interesting. This can be done by using any item that you choose to hide underneath the candy buffet covering. We used simple wooden boxes that my niece had used at her wedding candy buffet. I have seen books, bricks & even milk crates used for this purpose. It is also important that the jars you choose have openings large enough for the guests to remove the candy from. Make sure that each jar also has scoops or tongs to retrieve the candy.

Another idea to help your candy buffet stand out is to add your own personal touches. We used a simple white tablecloth to cover the tables and then added additional white cloths bunched up to hide the boxes & also to give it some texture. We also added a simple black ribbon to each jar, scoop & tong. Another personal touch we added was in the tags that we placed on each item. With it being a Christmas wedding, we knew we wanted an idea to go along with this theme but for it to remain classy & elegant. I personally wanted it to be cheap! Lol…..After purchasing all of the containers & candy my budget for this project was shot! I was able to purchase soft snowflake ornaments from the dollar tree at 8 for $1. I then printed the name of the candy in a cutesy font on my own home computer & glued the name of the candy to a piece of red cardstock. This gave us a personal tag that was cheap to make!

We also wanted the candy buffet gift bags to be personalized. We bought inexpensive white coffee tin bags & added a creative stamp that my daughter & son in law came up with. We then displayed the bags in 2 silver sleighs that fit our theme perfectly. We spruced up the table by adding red & silver ornaments along with fake snow & clear lights. We also hung 4 or 5 tissue paper snowflakes along with crystal garland that was draped from the ceiling. We then surrounded the buffet with glimmering crystal trees. These gave off enough light but also helped to keep with the magical atmosphere. No matter what season you have a candy buffet, the important thing to remember is to find a way to add your own personal touch!

Filed Under: Kim's Korner, Wedding Favors, wedding planning Tagged With: Candy Buffet, Mother of the Bride, wedding planning

Wedding Planning: Welcome Bags

October 25, 2010 By Maureen Chapdelaine Leave a Comment

Welcoming out of town guests to your wedding by greeting them with a Welcome Bag found in their hotel room upon arrival is the perfect way to begin a weekend of celebration, and to communicate with your guests on scheduled wedding events.

Here are a few ideas for filling your bags with items your guests will enjoy:

Personalized Bags: Start with a pretty bag that matches your wedding colors. Personalize them with a thoughtful…or funny…welcome message.

Itinerary & Maps: Welcome bags are a great opportunity to communicate with your guests. Include information from your wedding invitation (for those guests who left their invitation on the kitchen table), scheduled times for transportation you may be providing, local maps and recommended restaurants.

Local Specialties: Include items in your bag that are specific to the area; sugar maple candy for a Maine wedding, Boston baked beans for a Boston wedding. And if you are having your wedding in Chicago, don’t forget to include some delicious Garrett popcorn.

Spa Bag: Be creative. Suggest a romantic weekend to your guests by welcoming them with a gift that includes scented candles, soaps and lotions.

Theme Bags: Is your daughter planning an island wedding? Fill your welcome bags with flip flops, sunscreen and definitely bottled water.

A Gift of Wine: A simple but lovely gift is a bottle of wine labeled with your own wedding message. Don’t forget to include the wine opener!

Munchies Bag: Always appreciated is a bag filled with great snack food to keep your guests energized throughout the weekend.

Filed Under: Welcome Bags Tagged With: Motherof the Bride, Wedding Welcome Bags

Wedding Favors: Scealu of South Shore

August 2, 2010 By Maureen Chapdelaine 4 Comments

Guest Post by Tina White ~ Scealu of South Shore

It is always difficult to write about a creative journey but mine has evolved from my love of the sea and the two most inspirational people in my life: my mother and my mother-in-law. I am fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with both of them. I love creating something that others can appreciate and enjoy, and have taken my love of the sea and created a collection of handcrafted wedding favors and ornaments. My mother and my mother-in-law have been a constant help and driving force behind the realization of my small business.

Every time I complete and ship an order, I wait anxiously to hear the customer’s reaction. It seems like an eternity for them to call or email….even though it is only 2 days. When they finally call or email with their gratitude and their meaningful words, I know I have succeeded!! It makes my day!!! It makes my week!!!!

I began making these ornaments with the shells I found while clamming and oystering with friends in Wellfleet, Cape Cod. The initial idea of the shell ornament came from childhood memories of my mother making ornaments out of the shells we found while walking the beach at Misquamicut, RI.

My super patient and long-time friends were bombarded with various versions of my creative ornaments and eventually encouraged me to do something further with the concept. After three years of trial and error, my line of wedding favors has evolved into what you see today.

I named my business “Scealu”, which is old English for “shell”.

I handcraft each sea-inspired favor and work one-on-one with each client to make sure everything is personalized to their wishes. I have a wonderful time creating their gifts and have truly met some wonderful people. In the end, I find the delicate process of making each favor or table card worth the effort when I hear how happy I have made a bride, mother of the bride or family member. They in turn, look forward to the reaction of their guests when the favor is received at the wedding.

Living on the shore of Cape Cod bay, I feel I have done what is natural for my creative spirit, my family, and my setting; we beach it, we clam, we oyster. We collect shells and bits from the beach.