2014 weddings magazine

Toss out tradition. The Wedding Day belongs to the bride. Stealing the best ideas from other ceremonies is no longer a crime; it’s the new standard in social etiquette. Area wedding experts say it’s an “anything goes” age. Modern brides opt for fun over formality. Whatever a bride’s taste in food and fashion, she should make it her day. We’ve compiled 21 ideas for Tulsa brides to consider so the event is special.

ABCO Rents.......................................... 12

Bahama Sun of Brookside............. 8

Beshara’s................................................. 2

Blossom Shoppe.................................. 6

Bridal Rentals & More..................... 10

Chocolate Fountains of Tulsa....... 9

Cookiedoodle........................................ 2

Ehrle’s Party & Carnival Supply.... 11

Flowergirls............................................. 9

Gander Way Vineyards.................... 11

Gilcrease Museum............................. 3

Glenpool Conference Center... 7

Jewels by James.......................... 9

Osage Casino................................. 5

Perfect Cut Hair & Nails........... 10

Sweet Tooth Candy & Gift...... 11

The Blue Cottage........................ 11

The Corn Popper.......................... 8

The Golf Club of Oklahoma.... 9

The Wedding Chapel................. 8

Tulsa Garden Center................. 2

Advertiser index

Daily Wedding NewsFind everything you need for your wedding

on Tulsa World’s website

tulsaworld.com/weddings

Tulsa

Tulsa Weddings is produced annually by Tulsa World’s Advertising Department.

For more information about the magazine,

call 918-581-8426. To advertise,

call 918-581-8510.

Special Sections Editor Kevin Armstrong

• Fill out wedding engagement announcements • Download free worksheets

• See the latest stories on trends and other ideas to make your day special

• Find Wedding vendors

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Cover photo by Ryan Hulseberg

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Setting the right tone can make all the difference in how well they interact. “Candy is the ultimate mixer, the great con-

versation starter,” says Jeff Darby, owner of Sweet Tooth Candy & Gift Co. Candy buffets have become popular choices for wedding receptions in the last five years, Darby adds. “We have done really formal weddings and really fun weddings,” he says. People naturally gravitate toward the candy, and it’s an especially great icebreaker. “It’s also a decor item,” Darby says. “Candy can go with colors in the wedding.” Popular colors include blue, yellow, silver, coral and purple.

How about popcorn? It can be both sweet and salty. “Popcorn bars have become a really big deal in the last three years,” says Brad Berry, owner of The Corn Popper. He sells 32 flavors, including cheddar, caramel, cinnamon, lime and chocolate peanut butter. It’s all popped to order in his shop, so he can even match the wedding colors. It also won’t break your budget. One jumbo bag will feed65 people.

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SweetnessChoc it up to

Cookies can be a culinary artist’s canvas, and weddings can

be their galleries.

1 2 What’s the one thing a bride might love more than her groom? Chocolate. A 44-inch, four-tier fountain offers a different

kind of bubbly for your occasion, and guests will line up to dip their skew-ered sweets into the stream of chocolate. At Chocolate Fountains of Tulsa, brides can choose an as-sortment of fruits and pastries, but owner Russ White says, “You must have strawberries. That’s what everyone is looking for.” Bananas are his personal favorite, but his real secret? Oreos. “We always suggest having them on the table.”

3 Your wedding guests anxiously wait while the bridal party takes photos. The moment calls for a snack, but what do you serve?

A wedding reception is where the bride and groom’s relatives and friends come together, many for the first time.

That’s how Cookie- doodle can turn a bride’s reception into something to be admired. “We’re known best for our 4-inch wrapped cookies,” says owner Bernadette Feickert. The iced, wedding-themed confections are wrapped in cellophane, tied with a color bow and included at each place setting. “I’ve seen people fighting over the cookies at wedding receptions,” she adds with a laugh. Cookiedoodle also can create French macarons in various colors for wedding receptions as well as cake balls, which are really popular right now. “We do it all,” Feickert says.


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11 The Gilcrease Museum offers this and more in the Osage Hills overlooking downtown Tulsa.“The great

thing about getting married out here is you don’t need a lot of decor,” says Kacy Hughes, the museum’s event sales coordina-tor. “The ambience speaks for itself.” The Victorian Garden seats up to 300 guests and offers a breathtaking view of the city beyond the gazebo. The museum also offers a perfect indoor alternative: Helmerich Hall. This puts the bride and groom center stage surrounded by works of art. Whether the ceremony is indoors or outside, guests can wan-der through the museum and enjoy the art collection as they head to the reception in the picturesque Vista Room. “Your venue is always going to be the first decision you make,” Hughes says. “It sets the tone for the whole planning process.”

It can involve a bridal shower, bridesmaids’ luncheon and a rehearsal dinner all before the big day. The Blue Cottage Events

Center in Jenks was created with that in mind. Owner Kay Greer created the unique setting in 1987 and has played host to a variety of weddings over the years. She likes to keep it simple but elegant. The Victorian cottage lends itself well to formal tea parties associated with that era while also offering a country chic setting, depending on what the bride

wants. The cottage offers all the tables, chairs, linens and other furnishings but does not provide any catering. Brides can bring in outside vendors to supply the food. “That way the brides have lots of options on how their money is spent,” Greer says. The Blue Cottage can accommo-date seating for up to 50 guests and features a gazebo.

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But it can easily turn a bride’s dream day into a nightmare if she doesn’t have a backup plan for inclement weather. “I have the best of both: a small vintage mansion and the gardens,” says Janet Gaither, events coordinator at the Tulsa Garden Center. Most brides elect to hold their wedding cer-emonies outdoors and the receptions inside, but, “we have all kinds of setups.” The most popular choice is a ceremony on the steps outside the mansion and a reception inside the South Room or main reception room, which seats up to 200.

Venues10

Outdoors can provide the most beautiful backdrop.

Imagine saying “I do” in a garden setting where the only flowers you need are the ones you are holding.

A wedding is more than a one-day event.


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Are you game for an extra-long night of food and fun for your wedding guests?

If you’re looking for a party that’s just getting started once the bride and groom cut their cake and leave the reception, then Osage Casino’s two newest banquet facilities might be in the cards for you. Osage opened casino hotels in Skiatook and Ponca City in December 2013, and they’re ready to

turn your wedding into a real destination for your guests. The Skiatook property features a 3,000-square-foot ballroom and has 33 hotel rooms. Ponca City boasts 5,000 square feet of space and 48 rooms. The ballroom rental fee is waived for bridal parties spending a certain minimum for on-site catering. “We include everything you need,” says Jessica Reid, sales and convention services manager. “That includes linens, chairs, tables, $10 free play for each guest and free parking. ”

Want a country club for your wedding but don’t belong to any golf course?

No problem. Drive to southern Broken Arrow and book your “tea time” at The Golf Club of Oklahoma. This scenic vista was carved from 560 acres of rolling woods in 1983, with a spectacular clubhouse added in 1989 that overlooks the 18th green and lake. It’s here that dozens of brides each year stroll

the naturally carpeted aisle and pledge a lifetime of love. “We’re almost a destination site without the long drive,” says Event Sales Director Jamie Battaglia. “You don’t have to be a member to rent the facility.” One of the biggest things they have to offer, he adds, is on-site lodging that sleeps up to 32 guests. “You can stay 100 yards away from where the ceremony is taking place,” Battaglia says.

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If so, then you might consider heading to Claremore. That’s where you will find The Wedding Chapel, a small country church constructed in 1907 that, for the last 20 years, has been reserved exclusively for weddings. “It’s the vintage charm of the church that draws people,” says Spencer Sutton, who operates the facility with his wife, Teri. “It’s an authentic church with simple stained-glass windows and 18-foot ceilings.” The chapel seats up to 100 people and has a small recep-tion room. No catering is provided, which allows brides to save money because they can choose their own caterer. But the chapel does offer something with the modest rental price that most venues don’t: a minister and a music leader. “Our goal is to provide an affordable but nice wedding that makes it easier for the bride,” Sutton says.

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16This is a popular way to keep your guests enter-tained by not corralling them in the same space throughout the evening but also not requiring them

to drive to more than one location. The progressive approach has helped make the 3-year-old Glenpool Conference Center a popular wedding venue for area brides, says Director Lea Ann Reed. It offers the flexibility of a scenic outdoor ceremony and three indoor reception spaces. The outdoor space was designed for photogenic moments with its amphitheater, glass wall, pond and waterfall, and the stained concrete floors inside serve as natural dance platforms. “The walls are a neutral color, and uplighting works really well,” Reed says. “You don’t have to worry about colors clashing with any wedding decor.”

If your idea of the perfect wed-ding brings to mind a lush vine-yard setting with plenty of wine, then consider a short drive rather

than a flight across one or more continents. Gander Way Vineyards & Winery in Skiatook can accommodate weddings for up to 150 guests. Vineyard Manager Mike Trower says the property features an outdoor pavilion for ceremonies and indoor rooms for receptions and rehearsal dinners.

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Napa Valley, Tuscany and

Skiatook

Going to a chapel to get married?

Consider taking a “progressive” approach to your wedding


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What’s not included? Once a bride has chosen her wedding venue, she will want to consider all the things she might need to rent if the facility doesn’t already include tables, chairs, linens, etc. Most brides won’t think of everything, so it’s best to make an appointment at a rental company several months in advance to dis-cuss details. “That way they can see everything we have available,” says Anna Urq, event coor-dinator at ABCO Rents. “They should also let us know what their theme is so we can point out things that might work for them.”

Saying “yes” to a proposal leads to so many more questions...

That’s why turning to professionals can be a marriage-saver. “We can pretty much supplyeverything for a wedding ceremony except the food and clothing,” says Kenton Barton, owner of Ehrle’s Party & Carnival Supply. The store sells ring pillows, garter belts, candles, cake toppers, cham-

pagne glasses, customized napkins, invitations and a whole lot more. They also rent tables, chairs and table linens.

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More flower power to you From the bridal bouquet she carries

down the aisle to the centerpieces on her reception tables, flowers have the power to capture a bride’s per-sonality and enhance her beauty.

Her choices are no longer limited to particular times of the year thanks to the international avail-ability of different grow-

ing seasons in countries around the world. Cindy Howard, owner of Flower Girls, has worked with flowers for 35 years but began specializing in wedding flowers six years ago. It’s a real art, she says. She buys directly from farms to get the best flowers available and works with brides to fit their budget. “There are a lot of flowers that look alike, and you can substi-tute some varieties to save money,” she says. Howard is hands-on from planning, buying, arranging and setting up flowers for the big day.

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Before you talk with a florist about what blooms you want in your bouquet, you should have selected when and where you are getting married and what you and your bridesmaids will be wearing. That helps set the stage for what flowers are going to work best in your wedding decor.

“We want to make this absolutely her day,” Tulsa Blossom Shoppe owner Mary Wilkins says. She invites brides to bring in a book, box or mobile phone that con-tains photos of ideas that have caught the customer’s eye. The ideas and colors are endless these days, and Wilkins can bring them all to life. Among the trends she’s seeing are burlap, lace and can-ning jars in centerpieces, vintage bling such as grandma’s brooch being used in bouquets, succulent flowers in arrangements and flower baskets.

21Make your bridal blosssoms awesome

3747 South HarvardTulsa, OK

(918) 712-8785


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2014 weddings magazine

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