By Rebecca Richman

We always strive to make our clients' weddings a true reflection of them, but we also encourage our couples to be mindful of ALL of their guests and to do their best to make everyone as comfortable as possible. 

Many times we create lounge spaces for our couples who want a quite space for their guests to “retreat” to if they need a few minutes of quiet or want to catch up with friends and family in a quieter space.  I recently helped a couple who had some guests who due to their culture and religion weren’t going to be partaking in the dancing and drinking. Instead of creating a lounge space that still was close to a bar or close to the dancing we found a true quiet area and using candles, guided guests to this quiet lounge. Instead of locating another bar in this space, we allowed a tea station to be the focus. Guests instead could help themselves to warm beverages and were truly in a space where they could feel comfortable and slightly removed from the dancing and music in the other room.  It also still made them feel special, that we didn’t just expect them to take a seat in the lobby or leave immediately following dinner.

If you have guests who don’t want to consume alcoholic beverages due to preference or religion but also have a lot of guests who do want alcohol, consider butlering specialty drinks like warm apple cider (with cinnamon sugar on the rim! Yum!) for the Fall or a raspberry lemonade with sugar on the rim in the Spring and Summer! We also had multiple bars at this event; the primary bar was stocked solely with the non-alcoholic specialty drinks and we had another bar off to the side where we had the alcohol. That way the bar wasn't the focus of the cocktail hour. Finally we asked that the staff not serve wine tableside and to asks guests “can I get you anything” instead of “can I get you another drink” so that no one would feel uncomfortable. 

You can't please everyone, we know that, but you can try to be mindful of your guests and their comfort in addition to yours so that everyone can enjoy the night. 

By: Kristin Park

As I sat eating a few of my favorite candies, Jordan almonds, I decide to do some research. Being Italian I have long known of the Italian tradition of Jordan almonds but I wasn’t as familiar with the Greek tradition.

The Jordan almond originated from the town of Sulmona in Italy. Jordan almonds are also known as sugared almonds or confetti and are almonds in a candy coating. The almonds are coated in a variety colors with each color significant to a specific occasion in life, white being for weddings.

Jordan almonds are often used as weddings favors because the almonds are bitter representing life and the candy coating is sweet hoping that the sweetness of the marriage will overcome the bitterness of life. 

In the Italian tradition Jordan almonds are packed in groups of five, representing health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity. The packages are often placed at the guest’s seat along with this traditional poem:

Jordan Almonds for Thee

Five sugared almonds for each guest to eat

To remind us that life is both bitter and sweet.

Five wishes for the new husband and wife-

Health, wealth, happiness, children, and a long life!

While in the Greek tradition the almonds are called koufetta and are packaged in little bags and placed on a silver tray. They are packaged in odd numbers because odd numbers are indivisible which symbolizes how the newlyweds will share everything and remain undivided. The tradition remains true that if an unmarried woman puts the almonds under her pillow, she will dream of her future husband.  Sweet dreams! 

As most of you know we NEVER (OK, never is a long time) post anything that doesn't directly apply to brides and grooms….

This, however, we thought was an excellent exception as this was the best way to reach Philadelphia wedding professionals and as a leader in the Philadelphia events industry we wanted couples to see what we're up to….

The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants, Eventricity and Soiree Philadelphia have teamed up with the Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the American Red Cross to offer Adult CPR / First Aid / AED certification to area wedding professionals.

As we are scheduling this training for our teams, we thought it was a great idea to offer it to other colleagues as well.

We are taking advantage of having an extra day in February and scheduled the first two classes for Wednesday, February 29th – as the class is nearly 5 hours long we will be offering two classes. One beginning at 9AM and the second at 3PM.

Classes will be hosted at: Soiree Philadelphia – 305 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Class sizes are limited and once these two classes have filled we will announce the additional dates.

For more information or to register contact Mark Kingsdorf at Mark@QOHweddings.com

This class is the perfect opportunity for wedding professionals to raise the level of professionalism and network at the same time.

(brides and grooms-to be are also welcome to attend this class!)

We hope you take advantage of this AMAZING opportunity!

Have A Heart, Save A Life!

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We are truly blessed to be in this great industry, we know it’s hard work, and we know the hours are long –

But we LOVE what we do. We get to be part of people’s lives, make amazing friends and if you’ve ever had a peak behind the scenes you know we have some of the COOLEST networking events and conferences ever.

And with the talents and relationships we have, we know there is no better way to show our gratitude than to GIVE BACK…

Nine years ago, Mark, along with his friend Harry Giordano of City of Hope Cancer Center founded Let Them Eat Cake – the region’s largest wedding cake competition. It brings together the region’s top professional cake artists, students of pastry arts, great wedding professionals, brides and foodies alike!

This year will mark the 8^th annual competition – to be held Monday, April 2^nd at the Loews Hotel Philadelphia.

When word got out that our good friend and wedding cake superstar Sylvia Weinstock will be returning as our celebrity judge the competition went wild… all 40 spaces for professional entries as well as those allotted for students FILLED.

Other judges come from the local culinary arts, media and wedding industry – this is a great way to have a great time, check out the best of the best in local wedding cake design and support a great cause.

This event is held in memory of Lois Kingsdorf (Mark’s mom) who died of breast cancer 25 years ago and is open to not only the wedding industry, brides but the general public as well.

Another great cause we support is Wish Upon A Wedding!

Can you imagine being in love, wanting to start a life and plan a future with the person of your dreams and knowing you have been diagnosed with a potentially terminal illness?

Wish Upon A Wedding tackles exactly that issue… started just two years ago in Northern California, Wish Upon A Wedding has grown to over 20 chapters nationwide – Philadelphia Chapter launched January 2011 and has already granted two wishes with several more in the works.

(photo by Cindy Guessford Photography)

(photo by Sarah Dicicco Photography)

While this AMAZING organization is made up of mainly wedding and event professionals across the region, there are LOTS of other ways for everyone to get involved – by attending a local event (our Chinese New Year Banquet with Chef Joe Poon was AWESOME), volunteering at an event or making a donation in lieu of favors at your wedding.

Mark, Rebecca and Phyllis Jablonowski (from our Eventricity team) are founding members and the rest of our team all offer time and talent to this wonderful organization.

You can follow up on Facebook at: facebook.com/WishUponaWeddingPhiladelphia

Have you ever played Secret Santa? Imagine playing Secret Santa for a family where someone is struggling with cancer, trying to make ends meet, running to doctors’ appointments and possibly not being able to make ends meet?

This is one of the many things The Breathing Room Foundation tackles for families living with cancer. Founded in 1997 we are grateful that Phyllis got us involved in the Secret Santa program and love being able to play a small part in helping these families.

So, you see, while we LOVE weddings and that’s where our HEART is – we know that giving back and getting involved is the best way to pay back the success we have had and the relationships we have forged.

We’d love if you were to support one of these amazing local organizations!

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This event is going to be one of the hottest fashion shows in Philadelphia, with students from five of Philadelphia’s top design schools designing and creating original bridal designs.  A panel of renowned industry experts will be judging 25 of the finalists and one student will receive a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design and launch an evening wear line for the prestigious Bridal by Danielle.

Apart from the fact that we wouldn’t dare miss this amazing event we’re so excited to support them as they will be donating half of their proceeds to Wish Upon A Wedding Philadelphia!

Wish Upon A Wedding is the world's first nonprofit wishgranting organization that provides weddings and vow renewals to couples facing terminal illness and serious life altering circumstances, regardless of sexual orientation. We are so happy to be involved as founding board members of the Philadelphia chapter but this is a great opportunity for you to support this deserving organization AND enjoy a fun night of fashion with friends! 

Tickets are $50 per person or $35 for students.  Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served. 

Visit http://www.phillymag.com/sew-in-love/index.html to purchase tickets!

See you at the runway!

By: Rebecca Richman

The Harlem Renaissance served as inspiration as we were helping Maria and Al with planning their Philadelphia wedding at the Ritz Carlton this past fall. We helped them find subtle ways to weave in art deco elements into their wedding decor, utilizing deep red florals and ostrich feathers for texture. The ceremony was at St. John the Evangelist where they honored the African American tradition of jumping the broom. The celebration continued at the Ritz Carlton, a truly historic building that had hints of art deco influence with it's palm trees and columns.  Maria's family is from Louisiana so it was important to incorporate their love of creole food and culture into their reception.  A seafood gumbo was served with little mini tabasco's (the bride's aunts told me that the gumbo far exceeded their expectations and was on par with the real gumbo of New Orleans, a cudos to the chef and staff at the Ritz Carlton). The crab cakes were also accompanied by a spicy roumaloude. Their red velvet cake was designed and baked by Chef Dana Herbert (an old fraternity friend of the groom's and winner of Cake Boss on TLC) and guests danced the night away to the music of CTO 5th Avenue. 

We were so happy that MunaLuchi Bride featured this beautiful wedding, click here for the full feature! http://munaluchibridal.com/harlem-renaissance-philadelphia-wedding-maria-al/

The Huffington Post also featured their wedding
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/05/black-love-wedding-announcements-1_n_1255635.html

A big thank you to Amie Schroeder for sharing their incredible images below, click here for the full gallery. 

Yup, that would be 12 for you and me – however I’m beginning to think that dog years and wedding planning years are about the same…

Because if you know anything about the wedding business, years in the wedding industry are hard! It’s an industry where you live and die on your reputation, you're only as good as your last wedding and people come and go…

While we LOVE our couples and what we do, we know it’s a lot of work too.

The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants was born January 28, 2000 – so that officially makes us 12 years old today!

And as we look back as a team on what has been accomplished, we’re really proud of what we’ve done as well as where we are going!

What started out as one person and one wedding our first year {Hi Siobhan & Rick- yes, we still keep in touch} we laid a great foundation in this industry and met great wedding professionals.

We’re very blessed that our dedication to our clients and our standards of excellence has served us well

This year one of the accolades we received was “Best of the Knot 2012” an award they started in 2007 and we’ve won Best of for Philadelphia Wedding Planner every year since – longer than some businesses have been around.

We’ve been voted Brides Choice 2012 by Wedding Wire – making this our third year in a row in the top 5% of wedding professionals.

And while we've been featured in may regional and national blogs and wedding magazines on a regular basis….

While all of these look great in our portfolio; we’re honestly most excited by the families who have invited us to be part of their lives – not JUST for one day, and not just for the planning…but for years to come.

Seeing couples start families of their own and now twelve years later seeing those kids become teens is AMAZING…

Thanks for inviting The Queen of Hearts family to become part of your families …

We’re so excited for more things to come!

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By Rebecca Richman

I’m currently in the process of working with a few of my brides for their ceremony and reception décor and I found that Pinterest is a great tool to use to organize photos of things that they like or would like to do.  Think of Pinterest as a pinboard or an inspiration board.  As you are browsing around the web you “pin” photos of things that you like.  You can create a board in Pinterest for flowers that you like or for dresses that you like and then when you are browsing around and find a dress that you definitely want to try on or find, you “pin” it to the dress board and it’s location on the web will be saved there so you can go back to that webpage and find where you saw the dress.

I have a Pinterest account and use it for a variety of things like recipes I want to try, or things I want to do to my home but I also have boards for interesting or beautiful flowers I find online or absolutely stunning gowns.  Below is an example of what a board looks like:

What is great too is that I (your planner) can see what flowers you have on your boards or what décor photos that you like and would like to use as inspiration for your wedding. It gives me a great idea of what types of things you are drawn to or what ideas you'd like to incorporate or customize for your wedding. Most of all though it's such an easy (AND FUN) way to organize your photos!

You can find me here, see you on Pinterest!  But beware…it’s addicting! 

I LOVE telling the story of Sara and Rocky… {Yes, I love all of our couples} not only are they an AMAZING couple; but, they came prepared to be active participants in telling their own story…and it came in several parts

Sara and Rocky, like many of our couples are into food – I think it’s part of being a generation raised with The Food Network. 

The story they wanted to tell through food was about the places they each grew up, where they met, and where they live…

A great concept by itself, but they {specifically Sara} wanted to take this one step further –

Rocky has some rather severe food allergies {I think I’ve memorized the entire list} and it was very, very important to Sara that Rocky have a wedding day free of any worries about what he could and could not eat at their wedding reception.

So she and I set off on a mission to work with the team from Max and Me (now Brûlée Catering) to develop a menu and their chef really hit it out of the park!

We started with ‘tasting plates’ reflecting home – LA for Rocky with Grilled Tuna Loin and fresh Guacamole on a Tortilla Crisp and Philly for Sara with Warm Cheese Ravioli in a Tomato Cream….

Then on to Ithaca where they met and Braised Short Ribs and Savory Oatmeal – what sound like an odd combination was a wonderful warm reflection of the comfort food up upstate New York.

On to a favorite location – Tahoe with a fresh tossed salad in a martini class consisting of Apples, Asparagus, Endive and Bibb Lettuce tossed in a Lemon Vinaigrette.

And finally, to Washington, D.C. where they currently live; with Crab Cakes and a Sweet Corn Puree

Signage was key in conveying the experience to the guests as cards listing the cities were places on the stations and butler passed trays.

Dinner came with its own menu card explaining their love of travel and food including an explanation of foods guests had sampled earlier as well as special nods to special places.

A first course of Fresh Watercress, Butter Lettuce and Frisee with Roasted Beets, Toasted Pine Nuts, Orange Aioli, Light Sherry Vinaigrette an Herbed Filo Tuile took them back to the green hills and lush valleys of Lake Tahoe.

Sautéed Sea Bass with a Spicy Gazpacho & Basil Drizzle was reminiscent of Sacramento and a favorite Latin restaurant and many weekend dates; guests were also able to choose from a Seared Filet Mignon with Sauce Amarone telling of the steakhouses of New York and LA where families met and got to know each other.

Special thought was take to care for Vegan and Vegetarian friends with a special Cornmeal Crusted Eggplant with Sweet Corn Pupusas, Spicy Tomato Chutney and Roasted Plantains – reminding them of “Ithaca where loving the land is the custom and finding the love of your life is just plain lucky”

Not only did this meal tell the story of Sara and Rocky – but family and friends felt connected and cared for…

Who could ask for anything more on their wedding day?

Special thanks to Alison Conklin Photography {Alison and Geoff} for sharing their amazing images with us…{You'll see more in part two of Sara and Rocky's Wedding}

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We as wedding planners are a lot of things – we are peace of mind, a neutral third party in times of drama with family and friends, we are that connection to the best of everything wedding….

But mostly we are story tellers -  our job is to help couples design a wedding that is truly reflective of them -  as individuals, as a couple and as two families coming together…

Typically the most obvious story telling is done through the use of photographs and film to both tell and capture their history…

But while this series includes those elements and the wonderful professionals we work with; it’s more about the food, beverages, décor, stationery or music we work with each couple to include in their wedding AND WHY.

What elements of that wedding tell their unique story -

I recently heard a comment that it used to be, when you saw a vintage typewriter or wooden card catalogue on an escort card table it meant the couples were writers or librarians – now it just means they had a great flea market find…

We urge couples not to use elements like these and help them design elements to Tell THEIR Story…

Enjoy!

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