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Based in Calgary, AB, I am the Director of Sweet Stylings Weddings & Events: a wedding planning & design company specializing in modern, sophisticated weddings and sweet table design. I love weddings, design & fashion, colour and pattern, and apple pie. -
Category Archives: Spolight On
Calgary sweet tables: Sweet Designs book review
After following all of the buzz around Amy Atlas’ first book, I was excited to receive Sweet Designs in the mail from Chapters Indigo.
Amy Atlas is the creator of the stylized dessert and sweet table concept and is THE Sweet Stylist. Years ago, I fell in love with the dessert tables Amy created for weddings, and as I started my Calgary wedding planning business, I knew I had to bring the sweet table trend to Calgary weddings (and any event worth celebrating!). I was thrilled when my work was featured on the Amy Atlas blog as I respect Amy’s craftmanship and attention to detail, and strive to do the same for all of my work. Her use of colour and pattern is second to none, and her work is respected worldwide.
I was pleased to see that Sweet Designs lived up to the Amy Atlas reputation. Full of gorgeous photos of mostly never-before-seen dessert tables, I was also really surprised to see so many recipes and DIY tricks, including making your own candy wrappers, pedestals and boxes and creative vessel “liners”. This book is really a “how-to” for creating your own dessert tables or just making really cute sweets!
This “accordion”/DIY chevron-style pattern for box pedestals is creative and fairly easy. I did find that the instructions to be a little simplified, à la Martha Stewart, in which less crafty people may have some difficulty following each step. I can understand that Amy did not want the book to be simply filled with too many detailed instructions…there would be no room for the beautiful photos of new sweet tables.
As always, all of the dessert table creations are colourful, clean and exciting. And, look, my nail polish matches this sweet table…
Thank you, Amy, for creating this book and spreading the sweets love throughout the world! You can purchase your own copy of Sweet Designs here.
Sweet Stylings has a few 2012 dates left for Calgary wedding planning and Sugar Bar dessert tables. Take a look at our different wedding services and Sugar Bar packages and contact us to get started!
Sweet reading,
Calgary Wedding Planner and Designer
Calgary Dessert Table Designer
Wedding planner Calgary: New service packages available!
To serve you even better, Sweet Stylings is happy to announce new service packages that offer different levels of service and pricing.
The Sweetest Day with Style is our new Decor & Wedding Day Management package that is perfect for those couples are more than happy to plan their wedding, but need some guidance with the design elements and want the reassurance that a professional coordinator is there to manage their wedding day. Helping you align your design ideas, source items from reliable suppliers, and managing your details so that you can relax, our Design & Wedding Day Management package is the best blend of assistance for your wedding creativity and management.
Take a look at the detailed outline of service or contact us now to reserve your wedding date!
In in even more exciting news, we have expanded our popular Sugar Bar sweet tables to include more options. As Calgary’s expert sweet table designer, our new packages are designed to suit your budget and size of wedding or special occasion. With different menus and amounts of sweets and a starting price of $580, we are able to create a Sugar Bar for you in your event colours (*some restrictions apply). Choose from Petite Sweets, Medium Sweets and Large Sweets, or go with Custom Sweets for a unique, truly personalized Sugar Bar that will have your guests giddy as the proverbial kid-in-a-candy-store.
We are only available to create a select number of Sugar Bars, so contact us to reserve yours now!
Also posted in Sugar Bar dessert tables
Tagged sweet tables calgary, wedding design calgary, wedding planner calgary
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Calgary wedding design: metallics wedding trend
Gold.
Silver.
I’m a firm believer that, yes, you can mix metallics! To me, metallics are neutrals (I’m pretty sure I heard Mr. Michael Kors say this once too), so it doesn’t matter if you mix and match silver and gold, or rose gold and “gunmetal”…it is a very chic look that can be very elegant as well.
I love using metallics in weddings for glamour and elegance, so I’m glad to see that the metallics wedding trend is here to stay. My favourite way to use these precious metals when I am designing a wedding for my couples is in a large quantity and in full force for maximum impact! Here are some very pretty examples I found around the web:
Photo credit: Heather Warakska via Momental Designs
Did you gasp? I did!
Prepare to gasp again when you see these unbelievable creations by Noaki. You can get your very own custom brooch bouquet from the Noaki Etsy site.
Photo credit: Ceci New York
Photo credit: Style Me Pretty
Photo credit: La Tavola Linen
Photo credit: Elizabeth Anne Designs – Ami & Scott’s Vow Renewal
Photo credit: Elizabeth Anne Designs
Metallics in desserts and sweet table designs are just stunning too.
Photo credit: My Sweet and Saucy
Photo credit: Pretty Sweet Co.
Photo credit: Martha Stewart Weddings
Are we swooning yet? Metallics are perfect for this wintery wedding season, but as you can see from the photos above, the metallics wedding trend is perfect for any wedding season. Vintage, rustic, DIY — add some sparkle and glints of metals, and you have yourself an instant glam factor to your wedding.
Interested in learning more about our wedding design services and what we can do for you? Contact us and let us help you create that extra sparkle in your wedding.
Happy Wedding Design,
Calgary Wedding Planner and Designer
Calgary Dessert Table Designer
Also posted in Inspiration
Tagged calgary wedding design, Calgary wedding planner, gold weddings, metallic wedding trends, silver weddings
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Calgary dessert tables: What is a dessert table anyway?
So…what is a dessert table anyway?
I get this a lot. As a Calgary wedding planner and designer that specializes in designing dessert tables, I hear this question often because not everyone has heard of this concept here yet. As such, I’m devoting an entire blog post on this subject, so listen up!
A dessert table, also known as a “sweet table”, goes beyond the candy buffets you may have seen at some weddings. Specifically, a Sweet Stylings Sugar Bar dessert table is a collection of highly styled and designed desserts put together in an artful display usually on a table or set up as a “station” in which people can select and sample these sweets.
Sugar Bars are designed with inspiration from colour, fabric, patterns and texture – they are meant to be very visual experiences to wow your guests. I love incorporating Sugar Bars into weddings and intimate events to add to the art of decor and bring out the whimsical kid inside all of us.
Photo credit: Martha Stewart Weddings
It is very important that Sugar Bars are works of art. The design process always starts with with an inspiration piece: this can be a client’s favourite colour, or, my favourite, a cool pattern or motif on an item. From there, florals, stationery and other unique pieces are used to really bring Sugar Bars to another level.
I also like to investigate as much as I can to get really personal details to make a Sugar Bar unique – Lauren and Eric had custom Boston Terrier cookies to represent their two beloved pooches and these were the most popular items of the night.
Photo credit: Shutterbird Photography
Amy Atlas is the “founder” of the dessert table. It’s no secret that I admire her work: Amy’s clean, meticulous design style and presentation is a great influence on me (you can see Sweet Stylings featured on her Sweet Designs blog). Your eyes tell you what to eat first, so Sugar Bars are always designed with presentation in mind…of course, the sweets we choose are always tasty as well!
Okay, a dessert table looks fantastic and adds a visual feast for the eyes, but what can you do with it?
In addition to providing beautiful decor with polished design elements, a Sugar Bar can replace the popular “late-night snack” as something unique to offer your guests. Or, you can make it an addition or alternative to a traditional wedding cake.
Photo credit: My Sweet and Saucy
You will love the idea of giving your guests options so that they have more to choose from than the wedding cake…because if you have ever attended a wedding before, you’ll know that having a variety of great food is one of the key features to throwing a memorable bash!
Guests also love having an interactive element at weddings – it gives them something to do as the evening goes on. As celebrity wedding planner David Tutera says, a successful party should have something different happen every 30 minutes in order to keep everyone on their toes and entertained.
I hope you enjoyed the delicious looking images! Contact us to get a custom, upscale Sugar Bar dessert table for your wedding or intimate event.
Happy sweet tooth,
Calgary Wedding Planner and Designer
Calgary Dessert Table Designer
Also posted in Press
Tagged amy atlas, calgary sweet tables, Calgary wedding planner, dessert table designs, my sweet and saucy, wedding reception ideas
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Calgary gourmet doughnuts
I recently ventured to a fantastic new sweets location in Calgary. You may have already heard about Jelly Modern Doughnuts from my tweets and Facebook page or even tried some of the goodies yourself, and I was happy to have met with the executive pastry chef, Grayson Sherman, and one of the owners, Rita Tripathy to see their gourmet doughnuts firsthand.
You can find Jelly Modern Doughnuts in their urban, downtown Calgary location on the corner of 14 Ave and 8 St SW. And, true to its name, Jelly has a very modern design and atmosphere. You are greeted by the smell of fresh doughnuts and a wide, open concept…this is quite unlike the squishy lines at your local Tim Horton’s. Clean lines, white, hot pink and lucite create a slick feeling with ample room for you to lounge, catch up with friends and enjoy some artisan doughnuts at your local doughnut shop.
(Please forgive the poor photo, it was hard to find a time where there were no people in line!)
I met with Grayson and Rita in Jelly’s community room that is available for reservation just in case you and some close friends want to celebrate and enjoy your doughnuts (and other gourmet pastries) in a sleek, private room. They explained the process of using local, organic ingredients and how all of their goods are made from scratch every morning. They even donate the day’s remaining doughnuts to local non-profit organizations — do-gooders, I tell ya!
The more I chatted with Grayson, the more intrigued I was by the amount of flavours and possibilities with Jelly’s doughnuts. Because the basic dough is the consistent with the changes in the toppings, a high level of customization is available. From traditional to the more adventurous flavours, like their crowd-favourite maple bacon doughnut, to a rainbow of colours and toppings in any amount, Jelly covers your heart’s desires. This flexibility is wonderful, and as a Calgary sweet table designer and wedding planner, I want to know that there are many options to play with to suit every client’s needs.
The doughnut displays show their regular size doughnuts…impressive, to say the least. I’m a small bite kind of gal and prefer the “mini” size. Don’t be fooled though, these “minis” are still generous!
These are Jelly’s special occasion platters, which are 100% customizable, shown in the “mini” size.
Rita was so lovely and generous and sent me home with a box of samples…
Yum! S’mores…
I felt like Homer Simpson, drooling away at these pretty and delicious doughnuts. This was just a fraction of the flavours available, so I must go back for more! Who’s coming with me?
For more information on Jelly Modern Doughnuts’ philosophy, catering and delivery and how to book their community room, please visit their website. They are very open to feedback so don’t hesitate to give some! Thanks again, Grayson and Rita.
Wedding dessert trend: cream puffs
Not to make any of you stray from your healthy eating habits as wedding season is around the corner, but I picked up these bad boys because they were too hard to resist…
These delectable cream puffs are filled with fresh, smooth cream in fun flavours like banana and coconut, and also traditional ones like (my favourite) chantilly cream. The speckled one is one of the special flavours — skor — my husband’s favourite.
The sizes shown here are “mini” and they have a “regular” size in addition to this.
The best part of this whole experience is that the employees fill the “puff” with cream right in front of you! (I apologize for the lack of photos as I thought it might be a little creepy for me to be snapping away while they were working…). This puff is strawberry flavoured.
Macarons are still a hot Calgary wedding item, but I would love to incorporate cream puffs into weddings as well. Having already spoken to the owner of Cruffs about my excitement of using cream puffs in a dessert table or as a whimsical alternative to wedding cake, I’m crossing my fingers for a bride that is willing to forgoe a little tradition and serve these fun pastries!
Also posted in Personal
Tagged Calgary pastries, cream puffs, Cruffs: House of Cream Puffs
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Win a FREE couples’ photo session…and feel good about it too
Interested…?
Of course you are! So what’s the scoop?
The ever-charitable and all around good guy Terence (and I really mean it!) over at TLaw Photography asked me to help spread the news that he is giving you a great chance to win a 2-hour couples session with him…and he’ll donate to your charity of choice! But wait, you ask…is there a catch? In short, nope.
The concept is simple: think of it as winning a chance to get a donation to your favourite charity and you get a sweet photography session out of it! Terence is looking for the couple (that can be any 2 adults) that best exemplifies a genuine, caring and giving spirit — you will need to tell him a little bit about your fabulous selves and explain which charity you would like him to donate to and, most importantly, why. Perhaps you and your loved ones have been touched by a certain disease or illness; or maybe you would simply like to bring a little more attention to a lesser-known charitable cause that doesn’t get the funding of a larger organization.
All of the details can be found over at Terence’s blog…and if you want to see some examples of how fab your session can be, check out my clients Lisa and Dan’s family/engagement session!
