New York City wedding officiant, Jessie Blum, of Eclectic Unions is featured in the vendor spotlight!  Eclectic Unions, a member of my Kate Parker Wedding, shares a little bit about the wedding officiant business and gives us some insight into .  Check out her work and her info below!

Number of years in business:
I officiated my first wedding in May of 2008.  I began studying and doing research to become a wedding officiant in late 2007, when I was putting together my best friend’s wedding ceremony.  She and her husband had asked me to officiate at their wedding, as a friend, and I came to the realization that there is a great need for custom and unique wedding officiants, who can tailor a ceremony to the backgrounds and traditions of couples who come from mixed backgrounds, or want interfaith or non-religious weddings.

Pricing Information:
My ceremonies are completely custom – I talk to my couples and get to know them, offering them suggestions and ideas along the way. I give my couples “homework” with questions about their backgrounds, relationship, family, and other elements that are important to creating a ceremony. Each ceremony is custom written, researched, and officiated with lots of love, gravitas, and respect. My fee ranges from $450 to $700, depending on factors like travel, rehearsal, date, and time.

What makes you stand out?
My passion, love, and respect for ceremony is so important. In my training with the Celebrant Institute, I learned the basis and steps that are the building blocks of ritual and ceremony. I work closely with my couples, and like to think that I help them to express the wedding ceremony that they would write, if they sat down and did it themselves!

What’s your favorite part of your work?
Getting to play such an important role in the wedding! Wedding ceremonies have, sadly, become an afterthought in the wedding planning world, especially for non-religious (agnostic or atheist) couples, since the only kind of wedding they may know is a religious one – and the compromise of no religion DOESN’T mean it has to be boring, short, or cookie cutter!

I also love when I meet with couples, and we discuss the whole structure of the ceremony and different rituals and traditions we can include – there’s this moment when it “clicks” in their head, and they begin to really visualize their whole ceremony. That’s awesome – I know I’m doing my job right!

If you have any spare time, how do you spend it?
Right now, I’m planning my own wedding for October of 2010, so our house is all weddings all the time!

Which chartity are you donating to and why?
I chose the ASPCA because, to my fiance and I, our cats are really our kids. We adopted them from a shelter last year, and I couldn’t imagine my life without the snuggles, love, and kitty kisses they bring into it!

Eclectic-Unions LLC
Website: www.eclectic-unions.com
Email: jessie@eclectic-unions.com
Phone: (201) 218-1915
my Kate Parker Wedding State & Budget: New York City, 25-50k. 50-80k

New York City wedding officiant, Eclectic-Unions LLC, is a member of my Kate Parker Wedding your online wedding resource guide geared towards directing couples to quality vendors based on their price range and state.

Connecticut and Rhode Island wedding cakes, Toria Dolce, shares some trends and advice in the wedding cake business!  Cake can be a very important aspect of a couples’ wedding, so if you need a little advice, you’re in the right spot.  Check out the tips, trends, and advice from my Kate Parker Wedding vendor, Toria Dolce!

There are three main pieces of advice that I give to my clients:

1) It is YOUR wedding, so the cake should reflect your tastes and style…it is really sweet when a couple wants to make sure that all their guests are satisfied, but if you do that, you would need a separate cake combination for each person and they would all have to be glued together into one big cake……not possible. Offering two flavor combination choices is more than generous for a couple to do.

2) Taste exactly what kind of cake will be served at your wedding…..I have cake tastings with all of my brides and grooms so that there are no surprises the day of the wedding!!

3) It doesn’t matter what others think of your design and style……..they had their big day, now it is time for you to have yours…..WITHOUT the 101 bits of advice and suggestions coming from everyone you know.

What are some current trends you are seeing in the world of wedding cakes? – for example; flavors, ingredients, designs, colors, displays, etc.

Oh I like this question!! It seems like anything goes now and the more you think you’ve seen it all, the more surprises await you. But one thing will always remain the same…..people want top quality ingredients in their cakes…I do everything from scratch…I, myself, can’t handle the preservatives that are in our daily foods so I am finding that I go out less to eat in a restaurant and end up making more of my own meals……..the same with my baking….the less chemical ingredients in a cake, the better!! True Key Lime Pie is NOT meant to be green!

As far as displays for cakes, well there seems to be no end to how tall or wide or outrageous you can get……however, I’m not a big fan of styrofoam and PVC pipe or welded parts around my cake….sorry Duff, but if you have to have a carpentry and welding shop in your bakery to make your cakes truly outrageous, maybe you’ve gone a bit too far! And the pyrotechnics that are being seen with cake designs just frighten me……burnt sulfur on my cake, no thank you! ;0)

Connecticut and Rhode Island wedding cakes, Toria Dolce is a member of my Kate Parker Wedding your online wedding resource guide geared towards directing couples to quality vendors based on their price range and state.

Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island wedding cakes, Wild Orchid Baking Company, shares trends and advice in the cake industry.  We love seeing what vendors have to say about their industries and their input is always incredibly helpful.  Check out this my Kate Parker Wedding vendor below!

What is some advice you give couples when they’re choosing a cake designer and how do you work together to achieve their vision?

1. Look at pictures of wedding cakes to start getting ideas, but don’t be limited by what you see. Incorporate touches from other parts of your wedding into your cake design. The best cakes are the ones that truly reflect the couple they’re for.

2. Decide what you want the overall impression of your wedding dessert to be. Do you want to make a grand statement? Do something rustic and homey? Untraditional or whimsical? This will help your decorator steer you in the right direction in regards to flavor and design.

3. Be open to the use of color. All white cakes can be beautiful, but so can blue, pink or even green cakes! If your budget has you going for a smaller cake, using color can help add drama.

4. Find a designer that you’re comfortable with and don’t be afraid to ask questions. A good designer will gladly share with you any information related to the cake creation and design process. Once you feel comfortable with a designer, you should totally trust them to bring your vision to life.

5. Do what YOU like. It’s your wedding. Your mother may have had a white cake with vanilla butter cream, but that shouldn’t stop you from choosing dulce de leche or passion fruit, or whatever flavor is your favorite. By choosing a personalized flavor you’re inviting your guests to enjoy something you love.

What are some current trends you are seeing in the world of wedding cakes?

As far as current trends, I’ve noticed more and more couples are going for square cakes. The design details may remain fairly traditional, but the square shape gives the cake an updated look. We’ve also been doing more cake buffet tables where there is a small 3 tier cake at the center of the buffet, with other cakes in different flavors displayed around it. This allows the couple to really play with flavors, textures and finishes. I’ve been seeing lots of bright colors, which I love to work with. Also wedding color pallets using different shades of the same color. Birds were a popular design element this past summer and so far remain popular with the couples I’ve been meeting with for next summer.

Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island wedding cakes, Wild Orchid Baking Company, is a member of my Kate Parker Wedding your online wedding resource guide geared towards directing couples to quality vendors based on their price range and state.