Wedding Arches

I am searching for the history of the wedding arch and am having a difficult time coming up with anything…therefore I go to any of my faithful readers (yes, all 7 of you): Does anyone know the history of the arch?

From what I know, the arch is placed in the altar area of where the bride and groom are to be wed to frame the beloved couple. Afterwards, the arch can bless the home and garden of the newly married couple as a reminder of their special day.

HOWEVER, many couples today are renting the arch that we have here at the War Memorial or at their ceremony venue. This makes it much easier than to haul, set-up and take down an arch, but the couples are having the arch decorated to show their own unique style.

Here are some of my favorite wedding arch decorations of this season..

Here the arch is nicely framed by two plants

This couple brought in their own arch and it looks beautiful as well!

The nice thing about some arches, is that they don't even need to be decorated as it adds a subtle beauty to the ceremony

So far, this is my favorite arch decoration of the season!

I love the colors and the flowers tied to the end of the ribbons!

Wedding Recpetion Ideas

How about some fun ideas for a wedding reception! The Reception is the time for family and friends to dance, socialize, relax and have fun. The traditional way is to have a DJ entertain the crowd and get them on the dance floor. Now, I am convinced that people around my age bracket (late 20’s early 30’s) all have A.D.D….okay maybe I just have A.D.D….but I like to blame it on society, but that is a whole other subject.
ANYWAYS, for those of us who seems to like multiple things going on at once, especially at weddings, here are some thoughts on spicing up your reception and adding some other fun to it!

Have a Wii Station
Set up a section of the banquet hall with a Wii and some games….it would a great way to get your friends and family socializing and laughing with each other. Imagine your grandma playing Wii bowling against your best friend!

Photo Booth
This is a fun way to break the ice with some groups and to get memorable pictures of your wedding. Add props to the photo booth such as boas and funny hats and you’ll be laughing at these pictures for a lifetime!

Karaoke
Dare I mention this….you’ll need a bold group for this activity!

Entertainers
Hire a magician to walk around your crowd Vegas Style doing his/her magic tricks, or consider having a comedian come in and do a gig while the band or DJ is taking a break

Anyone else have ideas for adding more entertainment to a wedding reception?

Wisconsin Outdoor Weddings!!

Wisconsin weather can always be such a tricky thing. Basically, you never know if it is going to rain in January or snow in July. This can be particularly frustrating when planning an outdoor wedding.
For example…this last weekend the weather was cold and rainy. Both of my Saturday and Sunday weddings where planning on having their wedding ceremonies outside, but due to weather we had to move them in. This can be quite detrimental to some people, but everything here still turned out beautiful.
The best thing I can say is that when weather changes plans ...just role with the punches. Please do not get mad at your venue, maid of honor, or mom about the weather!
Here are some pictures of what turned out to be a beautiful INDOOR wedding.

Wedding Ceremony

Social Hour in Veterans Gallery

Quck Turn Around from Ceremony to Reception

Busy Weekend

This past Memorial Day weekend was so busy here! It was great!
We had 1 prom, 2 weddings and a band concert….
It was so much fun seeing the prom and reminiscing with my staff about the proms that we used to go to… However, I must say that high school kids these days have so much more taste and style than my class did for our prom!

One of the great things I love about seeing so many events and weddings is that there are always surprises and unique attributes to each wedding. I also love it when a couple portrays their personalities into their weddings. For example…. We had a beautiful wedding here on Saturday that was quite unique to the couple. Check out their cake topper!

The other really neat detail that they had was when the officiant asked for the rings they had a remote controlled car bring the rings down the aisle! I bet that is something that all of their guest will remember.

Here are some other pictures from the weekend!

The wedding on Sunday used Milwaukee Street Names instead of table numbers!

Our Memorial Day Service was very touching. Thank you again and again to all the men and women who have and are still fighting for us overseas and here! We wish you all the best!

Another tip...

So I feel very inadequate as it seems like I haven’t blogged if forever. Please forgive me as I have been out of town (finally a vacation!!!) and have been enjoying the beginning of what seems like wedding madness here! It’s been great!

Last week I went to visit my brother in central Conneticut and from there we took a trip to New York City. This Midwestern girl loved it! It was my first time there and I couldn’t get over the ongoing crazy vibe from the City. For someone who has self-diagnosed herself with A.D.D. this place even made me overwhelmed!

While I was there I couldn’t help but think of all the different ethnicities, personalities, mentalities, and ways of life there were and of course this lead into bridal thoughts.

If I was a crazy New Yorker how the heck would I get everything done if I was planning a wedding! Then I thought…you don’t need to be a New Yorker because there are PLENTY of people here in Milwaukee, or any other town that are just as busy.

When planning a wedding, no matter how busy you are, it comes down to a few things…..
Find a venue for the ceremony and reception.
DO THIS FIRST!!!

Just remember that you can’t have a wedding without a place to have it at. Once you find this, everything will fall into place. From here you will be lead to catering or other food options. You will have an idea of how you want your florist to arrange the décor once you have a picture of a place in your mind.

For those of you who are simply very busy here is a secret for you: Your venue and caterer will do almost everything for you if you ask nicely! Your caterer should be more than just food! Here at the War Memorial we have a WONDERFUL list of caterers who always go above and beyond with helping out the bride and groom. They are a great resource!

When you pick a venue the person there usually has a lot of great referrals. Your venue manager as well as any caterer has seen A LOT of weddings and know which vendors work well with individuals or crowds. It never hurts to ask for a list of suggested vendors from your venue or caterer.

Any other thoughts or tips on this?

Grooming the Groomsmen

Your wedding day is coming up and you are making final preparations. You and your bridesmaids are going to go and get manicures and pedicures the day before your wedding and the day of the wedding you will be pampered with getting your hair and makeup done…maybe even a massage.
But what about the groom?

Yes many of our lovely grooms are manly and rugged and do not feel the need to be pampered on their special day….or so they say. I believe, that deep down inside they want to be treated just like their bride does. So where does one go for such an affair in Milwaukee?

I came across this place called Groom For Men. It is known as Milwaukee’s premier male hair salon. Their website is great because it gives a list of prices for their services, however there wasn’t much about weddings packages so I gave them a call.
A delightful lady answered the phone and told me that they definitely do have wedding packages for the grooms and groomsmen. On the Saturday or whatever day your wedding is, they will close down the shop except for your party only. They have a great hospitality lounge that will have food and drink of your choice in there. The price was definitely reasonable. While relaxing the men can get waxed, shaved, a man mani and pedi, haircut, or anything else from their extensive list of services.

This could be a great gift to give your grooms to help relieve all the stress of a wedding! It would also be a great groomsmen gift as well!

Check out the website!


Has anyone had any experience with something like this?

Stress Reliever

So are any of you brides just done with planning your wedding right now. The drama has come and gone, the food has been picked out, your dress has been altered, reception card have been counted … except for a couple of your fiancé’s friends that you know you just are never going to receive them.

Now all you are waiting for is for your wedding day to be here so you can enjoy the party and be on your way to the relaxing honeymoon.


So many of us have been there before and know this exact feeling.


Stress management can be maintained in so many different ways. I specifically remember how I handled it for my wedding. Some people will run, some will work out, some will eat, some will just zone out….I on the other hand, played penguin baseball. My all time high score was 612 (it must have been a bad day) Anyways, I just thought I would share this with you in case it is helpful to relieve some stress and get re-excited about all the wedding planning!
Enjoy!