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

In the meantime, take a look at Tammy and Brian’s engagement photos on the Nathan Elson Weddings blog. Enjoy!

Happy wedding planning,

Calgary Wedding Planner and Designer
Calgary Dessert Table Designer

If you follow the Sweet Stylings account on Pinterest, you may have seen this cute and simple ombre macaron cake.

I don’t usually condone DIY projects for party hostesses as projects can sometimes be more stressful than fun, but this DIY macaron cake would be fairly easy to re-create for an intimate party like a baby shower or kid’s birthday (or, you know, an adult’s birthday!).

What you will need for this project is:

• cake with buttercream or fondant icing
• colourful macarons
• round, wood toothpicks (the flat ones break too easily)

1. Take your cake with buttercream icing and refrigerate or freeze it until the icing is stiff — it will be way easier to work with.
2. Estimate how many macarons you will need to make a “ring” around the cake — this will help you know if you can place the macarons side by side all the way around the cake, or if you have to leave some gaps between each macarons so that they are spaced out evenly around the cake.
3. Pierce a toothpick on an angle into the cake, near the bottom, until there is a small amount of toothpick left sticking out
4. Take a macaron and stick it onto the toothpick — make sure the toothpick does not pierce all the way through the macaron; you just want it to “hold” the macaron — until the macaron is flush with the icing so there is no gap. (This photo is for creating a macaron tower, but the same principle applies for this cake):



Photo credit: Merci New York

5. Repeat with more macarons until your cake is done!

This cake could also be made by simply sticking the macarons onto the sticky buttercream icing of the cake. However, I would add the toothpicks to secure the macarons so that they don’t simply slide off as the buttercream icing softens more throughout the party.

Let me know if any of you tackle this DIY macaron cake project, and feel free to share any tips you may have!

Tip: I strongly caution brides about DIY-ing a project such as a wedding cake or dessert for their own wedding simply because there are too many other items to deal with and the last thing brides need is to stress about their cake not being completed on time, or simply not turning out quite right. If you would love this style of cake for your wedding, I would suggest purchasing macarons and asking your cake maker to put the macarons on a simple cake for you!

Happy Pinning and creating,

Calgary Wedding Planner and Designer
Calgary Sweet Table Designer

This week, I pinned this to-die-for jeweled bracelet by Ippolita on the Sweet Stylings Pinterest account (via Ritzy Bee). I seriously want these bracelets on my arm right now! And after staring at these jeweled beauties for way too long, it also dawned on me that these colours would be beautiful for a soft perwinkle and lavender wedding with an ethreal tone.

I love designing weddings with colour, and the periwinkles and lavenders in these bracelets would make an unusual colour palette that is so very sophisticated. This periwinkle and lavender wedding colour palette is a great way to get that classic “white” wedding look without going all whites and creams, and the effect is achieved by layering different tones in this monochromatic colour scheme. Throw in some cool, acrylic Ghost chairs and balance with dark woods or gold accents and you have a wonderful wedding colour scheme with plenty of dimension.

Photo credits (clockwise): Martha Stewart; Ippolita via Pinterest; Enchanted Dream Weddings; Intimate Weddings; Wildflower Linens; Wildflower Linens and Karen French Photography via The Stylish Bloom

To follow all of our Pins, head on over to Sweet Stylings’ Pinterest Page.

Happy Pinning and have a wonderful Easter,

Calgary Wedding Planner and Designer
Calgary Sweet Table Designer

By “colourful” bouquets, I don’t mean one solid, bright colour for a more monochromatic colour scheme wedding. I’m not even talking about a two-way colour scheme for a colourful wedding. I am talking about an ensemble of vibrant, different coloured, different-flower-type floral and bouquet arrangements for a wedding with a big punch of colour.

I realize that this kind of wedding design could get a little crazy and a little “too much”; however, when done correctly, a colourful wedding may be just what you need to create your personal wedding style and make your wedding distinct. Consider these following florals I put together to show you just how gorgeous a colourful wedding can be:

Think purples, and combine them with rich browns, pinks and vivid greens for pretty fall arrangements:

Photo credit (clockwise): West Park Photo; Kio Kreations

For a spring wedding, a green floral base is perfect for adding pops of colours to evoke a classic and almost “garden” wedding feeling:

Photo credit (clockwise): Bouquet; Martha Stewart; Wedding Ideas

The ever-versatile pink looks fantastic paired with almost anything. These particular bouquets have a more “vintage” feeling to them (one that is so popular right now), but I like how they are modernized by mixing a lot of colours and different shaped flowers:

Photo credit (clockwise): Bollea

Although orange is usually known as a “Fall wedding” colour, I think you can use it for any season. Look how orange pops against blue for a nautical-feeling, classic wedding and also how much youthful energy the colour brings to a floral arrangement:

Photo credit (clockwise): Santa Barbara Chic; Elizabeth Anne Designs

Enjoy the colour, and hopefully Spring will arrive soon!

Have a colourful day,

Calgary Wedding Planner and Designer
Calgary Dessert Table Designer

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!

Taking cues from their love of outdoor activities, refined tastes, and combining it all with Greek traditions and Francophone fun, we created a day of understated elegance that reflected Georgia and JC. With a palette of white, green and rich, ocean blue, we were able to tie in personal details that make Georgia and JC who they are: white for timeless style, green for nature and blue for one of their favourite colours and the Greek heritage.

See all of the gorgeous details in the beautiful photos from Sharon Litchfield Photography.

I have never told her this, so I hope this flatters and doesn’t offend, but Georgia reminds me of Julia Roberts!

The Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony took place in the beautiful St. Demetrios Orthodox church while guests looked onto the spiritual and meaningful ceremony.

Afterwards, guests went straight from the ceremony over to the hall and enjoyed canapés and beverages in a lounge area sectioned off with draping.

The reception area was closed off at first to make a create a surprise for guests (did you see the Before & After transformation of this hall?). With OneWest Event Design & Rentals, Stardust Event Group for incredible lighting, Outright Entertainment for music and florals from Sarah Mayerson Design, guests were stunned by how their familiar hall was changed to an elegant and sophisticated wedding reception primed for eating delicious food from Distinctive Catering and dancing the night away.

Georgia and JC, thank you for trusting me with your wedding experience. I am thrilled to have shared such a special day with you and all of the important people in your lives, and I am happy to have developed a relationship with you where we can chat over lattés anytime!

For Calgary wedding planning & design filled with personal character and modern, elegant design that is tailored to your busy lives, contact us for Calgary wedding planning and beyond.

Happy wedding planning,

Calgary Wedding Planner and Designer
Calgary Dessert Table Designer