lasting impressions weddings is an award-winning minnesota wedding planning and design company

When designing Anna and Mike’s wedding I was lucky enough to have a bride that was a talented graphic designer and a groom who is a talented pianist!! The day was full of fun surprises! The first being Anna surprising Mike with an AMAZING Piano grooms cake! Mike in turn surprised Anna by playing a few songs for her during the cocktail hour!

The personal touches at Anna and Mike’s wedding were everywhere! They left two chairs open across the table from the bride and groom for guests to stop by and visit them (a Norweigan Tradition), The wedding cake was not only chevron to match our stationery and table clothes, but the “petals” on the cake were an exact replica of the petals on Anna’s dress!

For the decor we went against tradition and mixed silver and gold…. This is one of my favorite new trends… mixing mettalics is a great way to really bring out the shimmer in your wedding. The stationery was designed by the bride and we incorporated a chevron pattern throughout the stationary and the head table linens. On the Petite Fours from Gateaux we had music notes added for Mike’s love of music and we had Anna’s sorority quatrefoil added to the other desserts. Feathers accented the classic reception decor with the place card table and centerpieces. Congatulations Mike and Anna! This wedding was so much fun to design with you!!

Vendors:
Wedding Coordinator: Lasting Impressions Weddings
Ceremony Venue: Basilica of St. Mary
Reception Venue: Lafeyette Club
Flowers: Sadies Floral
Dress: Bridal Accents Couture
Stationery: Bride
Cake: Gateaux
DJ and Lighting:Instant Request
Photography: Candence and Eli
Rental Items: Apres Party
Hair and Makeup: Blowdry Bar
Transportation: Renees Royal Valet

The number one question I get from my clients is “How do I personalize my wedding and make it unique and different”. My answer to this is always… Be true to who you are and lets incorporate some “personal” touches. There are a few ways that your personality can come into your wedding and the first one is in the food. In the last few years I have seen couples start to become really daring with food. There are no rules about what you have to do at your wedding, what you have to serve, what you can and can’t do. If you don’t want a wedding cake.. Don’t! If you want to incorporate comfort foods.. lets do it!
Exciting Appetizers, Food Stations, Signature Cocktails, Late nights snacks, out of town bags, favors.. these are all spots that you can use food and drink to really personalize your wedding!!

Sometimes I forget that I live and breathe weddings and that just because I have seen the idea used a few different times does not mean that everyone has seen it done!

The options for “Food Bars” are ENDLESS!! Instead of addressing all of the types of food bars you can do I have decided to break this blog post into a few different segments to address “Food Station” ideas in a following blog because that in itself is a full topic!
I have seen “Food bars” mainly as the Late Night Snack/Favor/Dessert at weddings. And that is a good way to really give guests a memorable experience while not blowing your budget.. incorporate this beautiful and fun idea as a combination such as a popcorn bar for a favor and late night snack for your wedding.. some people will package their popcorn up and bring it home and some people will be snacking on it late into the night!!

So here are some of my favorite ideas over the years and some newer ideas! For more ideas and for photo credits of all of the pictures below please visit our Pinterest Page: http://www.pinterest.com/strotter/wedding-food-bars/

I think that the food tables all started with the original Candy Bar Tables…

Dessert Bars
You can numerous options such as assorted dessert tables (Such as these amazing ones by Local Dessert maker Cocoa and Fig) or you can concentrate on one idea such as just Chocolate Tables!

Popcorn Bars
From Rustic to Fancy.. Popcorn can and has been done so many fun ways!

Smores Bars-

French Fry and Burger Bar

Bruchetta Bar:

Bagel Bar

Popsicle Bar
:
Potato Bar:

Biscuit Bar:

Milk and Cereal Bar:

Olive Oil and Nut Bars:

Yogurt Bar:

Pie Bars:

Ice Cream Bars (and Ice Cream Trucks)

Chili Bars:

Trail Mix Bars

And then there are the ENDLESS Beverage Bar Ideas:

Working with Emily and Josh on their Minnesota Boat Club wedding last June was on a perfect summer day surrounded by water and family! The small wedding of 150 guests was perfect for Raspberry Island! Everytime I am at the Boat club I feel like we are in a personal backyard with our own big house for the reception! When I was developing the theme with Emily we wanted something bright, full of fun elements and playful!! Molly Hiller from Mollys Flower Studio knocked it out of the park with BIG BRIGHT PEONIES that really lit up the space! The stationery tied well into our chevron and bright floral theme and the photography by Melissa Oholendt captured everything perfectly!

Wedding Coordinator: Lasting Impressions Weddings
Ceremony and Reception Site: MN Boat Club
Photography: Melissa Oholendt Photography
Chair Covers: Lasting Impressions Weddings
Flowers: Molly’s Flower Studio
Invitations: A Milestone Paper
Hair and Makeup: Juut- Uptown

Thank you again to all of our clients that make my job so easy and fun! We were honored with the Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine Diamond Award for Best Decor. We submitted one of our weddings from this past summer and were honored to have it stand out and receive this prestigious award! Everyday when I look around our office I am completely in awe that not only do I get to do a job that I absolutely love, but we get to be recognized for it as well!

I have all of you to thank for that!!

Photo from the article was by the wonderful Melissa Oholendt Photography!!

We are so excited to share with you the 2013 Wedding Portfolio! Every year I create a book of our latest and favorite weddings to share with clients in our meetings. This is not only a great tool for me to showcase our work, but it is really nice to reference certain venues, decor ideas and photographers!
Thank you to all of the photographers that sent me images for my blog and book! Happy 2014!