The Game Show Network’s, “The Newlywed Game,” is currently casting couples for their newest season which will tape this summer in NYC.  They are looking for fun, outgoing, and bubbly couples (who have been married within the last 5 years) to participate in their upcoming 6th season!  “The Newlywed Game” is hosted by Sherri Shepherd (from “The View”) and airs nightly on The Gameshow Network. The winning couple of each episode wins a second honeymoon!

Special categories they are looking for:
- Beach/destination weddings
- Fun theme weddings (Fairy tale, Halloween, Pirates…!)
- Traditional ethnic weddings
- Couples who met online
- High school sweethearts
- Jersey Shore-like couples!
- Friends, then lovers

If you or anyone you know is interested (you do not have to live in NYC to apply), please email/have them email:  castingnewlyweds@gmail.com with their your/full names, location, contact numbers/emails, wedding date and recent photo(s).

We cannot contain our excitement for this fabulous event coming to Orlando! The concept is possibly the coolest thing ever: a fake wedding to give engaged couples a real idea of what the vendors participating are  really like in action. It’s like a bridal show, but way better! Check out the NotWedding website to learn more.

Checking out vendors by attending a party? We’re in, and you should be, too! Get your tickets before they sell out!

The NotWedding Orlando
Thursday, March 15, 2012

Heaven Event Center
8240 Exchange Dr Orlando, FL 32809
Tickets are $35
RSVP here

Doors open at 5:45 and the ceremony starts promptly at 6:30 pm.
Tickets are limited and include parking, dinner, drinks, dessert,
and a night full of inspiration and surprises.

Here’s a peak of the adorable NotCouple, Danielle and Robert, that will be the Orlando bride and groom.

Cute, aren’t they? (Danielle and Robert are married in real life.) These pictures were taken by bluelane studios for the Orlando NotWedding engagement shoot, and golly are they stunning! We can’t wait to check out the rest of the awesome vendors participating in this event.

Follow our Wedding Details We Love board for unique wedding ideas like these:

Tying the knot invitation. Too cute!

Typographical Processional

Flower box aisle runners. So pretty and so reusable.

Follow our DIY Wedding Ideas board to stay up to date on some of the DIY inspiration we are creating, like this awesome and easy peasy tutorial for creating a personalized wedding dress hanger.

Follow our Fabulous Wedding Photography board to find must-have shots that you might not have thought of before, like these beauties:

Or you could follow our Favorite Orlando Wedding Vendors and Favorite Orlando Wedding Venues boards to discover awesome Orlando venues and vendors that we think are particularly swell.

Better yet, follow all of our boards, because truthfully we are finding too many good ideas for you to miss out on. You won’t regret it!

It may seem a long time away, but with the holidays upon us (where did the year go?!), January 8th isn’t truly far off at all. What’s so special about January 8th, I can hear you saying. Nothing, except for this awesome event. The 3rd annual I Do Downtown Bridal Crawl kicks off at the History Center downtown, where brides receive a map of all the stops on the crawl, where they can get ideas for venues, honeymoons, photographers, flowers, cuisine (free samples included!) — it’s basically a (fun) one-stop shop for all things wedding. Some of the participants include The Ballroom at Church Street, Ceviche Tapas Bar and Grill and the oh-so-elegant Grand Bohemian Hotel. The event runs from 11am-4pm on Sunday, January 8th, and tickets are $10/$15 for a single/couple advance purchase and $15/$20 day of event; call 407-836-7035 for more details. So put those holiday decorations away and start filling up January’s calendar!

It was impossible not to fall in love with the details of this Orlando wedding ourselves; Erin’s a DIY bride, and her aesthetic sensibilities shone through in every regard. Let’s start with the venue: the couple was married on Nov. 27^th, 2010, one year after a Thanksgiving Day proposal by the groom. Though they were originally planning to have the ceremony and reception at the same place to save money, Erin fell in love with the authentic feel of the Winter Park Farmer’s Market for the reception. “It has such a rustic feel, with the brick walls and barn doors and the old train station … It was a blank canvas that I couldn’t wait to paint,” she says.

As for the ceremony, Mead Gardens (which we’ll profile in more depth in weeks to come), is just down the street, and hit the budgetary sweet spot at $250 for the event. “It had these amazing park benches for seating, so no rentals required,” says Erin. And her mother got into the DIY spirit, making a bunch of pillows for the guests to sit and lean upon.

Deciding on a photographer can be at least as important as choosing the right venue, and Erin and Brandon actually booked photographer Lori Barbely first. My best friend had gotten married a year before we were engaged and Lori Barbley had been her second photographer,” says Erin. “She was amazing and truly appreciated all the details.”

Now let’s move on to those details — the cupcakes, the rose theme, the coffee bar, the travel cases. The couple knew they wanted to do something different when it came to the cake, and cupcakes were just peaking in popularity. Plus, Erin says, it gave her dad a good project, “what better way to get dad involved than giving him an opportunity to put those power tools to work and make an elaborate stand for them,” she says. The cupcakes themselves came from Bluebird Bakery, right around the corner from Erin’s house.

As for the rose theme, Erin says “growing up, my dad worked in the wholesale florist industry and while I was in college, I would always work with him over the summers. One of my favorite jobs was cleaning out the rose cooler.” She even found pinecones that grow in the shape of a rose and filled glass jars with them all around the reception.

The coffee bar was a nod to Brandon’s side of the family, coffee connoisseurs. “Adding a few treats to the coffee display really allowed us to pay homage to our families and some age-old traditions,” she says.

To complete the rest of her vintage look, Erin trolled Etsy for items such as her guest book, cake topper and garter. Our favorite vintage pieces, without a doubt, are the traveling cases Erin presented as her bridesmaids’ gifts. She came across the idea of recycled luggage on the site, but couldn’t resist personalizing them for each of her attendants. “I found old Samsonite train cases in a variety of different colors,” she says. “I spray painted the trays inside and lined them with silk and vinyl using a trusty hot glue gun. I then found images online that were appropriate for each girl and hand painted them on the front … I’m not a painter, so that was a bit difficult. But the finished product was amazing. The girls were so excited about them and were able to carry all of their necessities that day in true vintage style.”

Finally, the bride has some wise words for others who may be in the beginning stages of planning a wedding. “Be in love with your top three vendors – photographer, DJ/band, and caterer,” she says. “Make sure you connect with them and trust them. For me, these were the vendors where I could ramble on about my vision and ask “Do you know what I mean?” … and when they said “yes” I knew that they truly meant it.”

We’ve got another great venue this week, one that will appeal to couples looking for something with a little Southern charm served on the side. Orlando’s Dubsdread country club and golf course has been hosting brides and grooms since 1924, and you’ll still get that vintage feel when you arrive on the property, surrounded by 100-year-old oak trees, dripping with Spanish moss. Couples can exchange their vows inside in the intimate Florida Room, or choose an outdoor ceremony, held in a brick courtyard on the golf course grounds. Once inside, the Historic Dubsdread Ballroom, with rough hewn beams, soft lighting and vintage hardwood floors, practically begs for a swing band and classic cocktails.

According to Cathie Ashby, director of catering, Dubsdread has held receptions for up to 350 people, and can accommodate up to 250 for a buffet reception. And the property’s name has an interesting story, too. “Known to the public as a difficult course, the poor golfers, also know as Dubbers, dreaded the level of difficulty the course had,” says Ashby. “That’s how the term Dubsdread was came to be.”

As for food, The Tap Room at Dubsdread is a destination in its own right, and the bride and groom can  choose from a variety of plated, buffet and hors d’oeuvres options.

For more information, contact Dubsdread at 407-650-0100 or email dubsweddings@taproomatdubsdread.com.

The appealing display at Cookie Cousins

A friend of mine who lives in Orlando is getting married next spring, and wanted to find a unique way to ask her bridesmaids if they’d stand up with her. Enter Cookie Cousins in College Park.

a delicious invitation

Cousins Melissa Hart and Tracy Nolen got the idea for a specialty cookie store in the summer of 2008. Says Melissa, “my mom commented that she wished there were somewhere in Orlando that she could get a hand-decorated cookie that looked and tasted good and at a reasonable price.”

And so the cousins first set up shop creating delicious, personalized sugar cookies for friends and family before expanding into their current location on Edgewater Drive. Though Tracy is no longer involved in the business, Melissa is full steam ahead. She says about a quarter of their orders are related to weddings in some way, be it bridesmaid invitations, shower goodies or reception treats; the four most popular shapes are a bridal gown, 3-tier wedding cake, diamond ring and the couple’s monogram on a circle or a square.

The cousins ask for a minimum order of six cookies, and at least four to five days’ lead time. One bride told Melissa she couldn’t wait to get married so that she could offer the cookies as her favor. “The wedding ended up taking place in California, and the shipping cost was too high for that many cookies,” says Melissa. “So she ordered some just for herself and her fiancée.”

If you’re interested in some cookies from Cookie Cousins – and really, who wouldn’t be? – the store is at 2322 Edgewater Dr., and the phone number is 407.420.7940. Or email Melissa at cookiecousins@gmail.com.

The Orlando Science Center in Loch Haven Park certainly fits the bill for “unique.” Couples can choose to hold their reception on the roof (our personal favorite), overlooking the downtown Orlando skyline, or in an exhibit hall with a tyrannosaurus minding the guest book. The venue has been hosting weddings and receptions for around three years, and can accommodate parties from 10 to 200. And you’ll get the same services you’d receive at a more traditional venue – a bridal suite for primping, staff set-up and breakdown and an on-site wedding coordinator – as well as a few quirks like the dinosaur in attendance. The Science Center appeals to couples who are “go-with-the-flow, says Steven Natale, the venue’s event coordinator. “They want their guests to have fun and celebrate the love they have for each other — with the dinosaurs of course.”

And as an added party favor, guests all get free admission to the Science Center on your wedding day, so while you’re getting pictures taken in Loch Haven park, they can get their learn on in the museum!

Parchment boasts having Orlando’s largest selection of invitations, and with thousands of options to choose from, we don’t doubt that it’s true.  Parchment carries thermographed or engraved invitations from printers like Crane, William Arthur, Elite, Encore, Carlson Craft, Birchcraft and many others, but their staff can also sit down and help you create a custom, one-of-a-kind invitation for your big day.

Plus, while your at the store, you can peruse for wedding party gifts.  Parchment has the best options for unique gifts in Orlando.

Stop by to check out their selection.

Parchment
Plaza Venezia Shopping Center
7822 West Sand Lake Road
Orlando, FL 32819
407-248-0750
Mon-Sat 10-6, Sun 12-5

Photos Source

The event professionals at The Estate House have over 20 years experience in event production.  They are experts!  Plus, they have partnerships with lots of local vendors, making it easier for you to find a great florist, photographer, or DJ.

It doesn’t get much more stress-free than that.

Call to make an appointment to see The Estate House.

The Estate House at Cypress Grove
290 Holden Avenue
Orlando, FL 32839
Attn: Crownline, Inc.

Ph. 407-857-9850
Fx. 407-354-0871

Email: info@cypressgrovepark.com