Today I’m continuing with wedding ideas from the San Francisco Wedding Fair.

The Chandon booth had some ideas you can share with champagne loving brides.

They used their petite 187 ml bottles of sparkling wine and attached elegant name cards to them with white satin ribbons. They are place card holders and wedding favors in one. (See photo above.)

The booth also showed how you can have a couple can use a magnum bottle of champagne in lieu of a guest book. Just provide gold-colored permanent link pens that can write on glass, you can find these at craft stores, and have guests sign the bottle. The bride and groom can drink from it on their honeymoon and on wedding anniversaries.

If your bride is looking for a colorful signature cocktail, the Chandon website has recipes using champagne along with ingredients such as fruit juices and nectars to give it color and different flavors.

Keep your eyes open when you attend or exhibit in bridal shows and wedding fairs and you can get ideas for your business and your brides. 

If you are planning a wedding for a bride who has a lot of out-of-town guests, you might be asked to create welcome bags for them.

Here are 7 things Martha Stewart Destination Weddings and Dream Honeymoons magazine lists that make up the perfect welcome bag and 4 things that I like to add:

Martha’s things-

1) Inexpensive box or bag

You and the bride might want to chose something colorful and reusable so guests can take it with them when they shop and sightsee.

2) Edibles

Try to find something locally made that guests can snack on in their hotel rooms.

3) Souvenir

A fun, inexpensive keepsake with the name of the city, like a magnet shaped like a cowboy boot if the wedding is in San Antonio,Texas.

4) Pampering product

Lip balm, sunscreen or a sleep mask.

5) Toy

A mini version of checkers, a paper airplane kit, just something fun for kids or adults.

6) Map or guide book

Provide a map or guidebook of the local area in case guests have time to explore. You may even be able to pick up some of these things free at your local tourist or visitors bureau or chamber of commerce.

7) Personalized item from the bride and groom

Have the bride and groom create a list or booklet of their favorite places to visit. Or, give guests a deck of playing cards or bottled water that has been personalized with the bride and groom’s names and wedding date.

Additional things I like to include:

1) Welcome note

A short note welcoming the guests to the area and thanking them for traveling to the wedding.

2) Itinerary and invitations

Let guests know the time and place of the rehearsal dinner along with directions on how to get there and any dress code the bride may want to specify. Also, in case guests have forgotten to bring their invitations, remind them of the time and place of the wedding. Include invitations to any events created especially for out-of-town guests and to the after-party and post-wedding brunch, if the couple are having them.

3) Stamped, picture postcard of the area

So guests can send a quick note to a friend or family member.

4) Contact information

Give guests a number to call in case they have questions or an emergency and need to reach someone in the wedding party. It could be your number, if you wish to take this on, or a family member who doesn’t have big responsibilities on the wedding day.

Anything special that you like to include in welcome bags?  Please post a comment.

Last month I mentioned I met a vendor, Unveiled, who sells wedding favors, gifts and accessories. Today I had the pleasure of having coffee with the owner, Sally Otsuka, and Cheryl Bethe and I got the opportunity to look closely at many of the items in their store and learn what is popular with brides.

I know you, like many wedding planners, may sell your own line of wedding accessories but you still might want to refer their site to your clients for items that you don’t carry. Sally and Cheryl visit gift shows around the country to bring back unusual and delightful things to fill their shop and online store. They also create some products of their own.

Brides love their table name cards, table number cards, place cards, menu cards, favor tags and programs, all of which they customize for each wedding.

Also popular are gifts they created that are almost exclusive to their store, “Her Floral Highness” gift box for the flower girl and the “Ring Protection Agent” gift box for the for the ring bearer.

Check out their online store, or visit their shop in Walnut Creek, California, when you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, to see their entire line of products.

Another candy you can personalize is Dove chocolate.  You write up to four personal messages that are printed inside the foil candy wrappers, then select the color of the foil wrappers and the type of packaging you want.  Read more about it at http://www.mydovechocolate.com/selling/index.asp?pi=4

Over at Hershey’s Chocolate, you can order kisses with a “Just Married” tag.  Not as personal, but still fun.  See them at http://www.hersheygifts.com/sm_kisses.asp

Due to the heat, you probably don’t want to order chocolate for Summer weddings but they would work well for the Fall and Winter weddings you may be working on now.