The Perfect Holiday Centerpiece: Featuring Bedford Village Flower Shoppe

I don’t think there is anything more welcoming in a home than fresh flowers..am I right?? And honestly, during the holidays we all want to step up our flower game to impress those dinner guests and family members coming from near and far. However, I know during this time of year when we are all as busy as can be, it’s pretty easy to overlook such an important detail, but that is why the world gave us AMAZING florists like Bedford Village Flower Shoppe! If you are in the Westchester/Connecticut area, you don’t need to look any further for all of your holiday and floral needs. Whether you are in search of a gorgeous holiday arrangement or a gift for that special someone, Bedford Village Flower Shoppe has you covered!

Peonies, Brunia, Amarylis, and Evergreens - GORGEOUS!!

Peonies, Brunia, Amarylis, and Evergreens - GORGEOUS!!

I just received the MOST STUNNING holiday arrangement ever from them and it looks absolutely gorgeous on my dining table, and matches my china perfectly (#winning)! This particular arrangement is a lovely mix of Peonies, Brunia, Amarylis, and Evergreens. It also has a beautiful rustic, winter touch with the pinecones and distressed wooden holder. No matter what you are looking for by way of size, shape, color, and cost, they can accommodate your every need and truly help you create a customized arrangement! These also are TOP QUALITY flowers. No filler, no fluff, just truly beautiful and fresh flowers and products that are sure to last!

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Oh and not only are their flowers absolutely stunning, but this shop is owned by the world’s sweetest couple. They go above and beyond to make sure that you get everything that you want as a customer…a quality that is hard to come by these days if you ask me! They also have a blog which gives great tips and tricks for choosing a perfect arrangement…a must read for the holidays!

Bedford Village Flower Shoppe also does more than just arrangements for your home, they are full service for weddings and special events. All of you 2019, 2020, actually just ALL OF YOU BRIDES TO BE, go check them out!! They have a stunning online wedding gallery to give you little taste of just how beautiful they can make your special day! Also, go check out their Instagram and Facebook pages for more pictures of their stunning work!

So if you are in need of flowers and arrangements for any and everything, go check them out and tell them I sent you :)

Bedford Village Flower Shoppe

641 OLD POST RD, BEDFORD, NY 10505 

Phone: (914) 228-1587 Email: info@bedfordvillageflowershoppe.com

Instagram

Facebook

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If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below!

Here’s to you having a GORGEOUS holiday table this year!

XoXo - Jamie

*This is an affiliate post. However, all opinions and write-ups are my own.

Fall Wedding Looks by Bardot

Some of the most beautiful weddings happen in the fall. With the changing leaves, the perfect days  and crisp fall air at night it is the setting for an awesome wedding. I recently attended a beautiful outdoor fall wedding for my dear friend and needed the perfect dress for the formal, outdoor event. I found some of the BEST fall dress picks from the designer Bardot, so many in fact that I’ve decided to dedicate this post exclusively to Bardot picks for fall wedding dresses! 

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The Bardot dress I wore to the wedding was a perfect fall shade! The burgundy/deep Merlot color goes so well with the rustic/boho chic backdrop of this wedding and the outdoor setting. I loved the lace detail on the dress to add some texture to the already beautiful color and the adjustable straps allow it to be worn without a bra!  Score! 

I paired this dress with a nude chunky heel but you could wear a black, silver, gold or even a burgundy or brown heel with this. One tip I have for any outdoor wedding is to find a heel that isn’t “spike” like, you will save both your shoes and your ankles when you aren’t sinking into the grass all night! 

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This dress also goes perfectly with a ton of men’s suits in lots of colors. My husband found this fun burgundy color suit which actually inspired me to find a matching dress. It was a great match without looking like we were going to prom and it brings some fun to a suit by steering away from the traditional blue or black. 

I’ve linked this dress below for you and I wore a size XS. It comes in several colors as well which are all great choices for fall or winter.  

Bardot has so many awesome dresses it was hard for me to just choose one. So, I’ve linked some top picks for you all below (some of which are on mega sale!) and they come in so many color options. They easily transition from season to season as well and can be paired with many different wrap scarves for those chilly fall nights! 

Happy Wedding Season!!  

XoXo - Jamie  

Hosting the PERFECT Bridal Shower

Keeping it STRESS FREE for the Bride-to-Be

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BRIDE-to-BE

Tips for an AMAZING and stress free bridal shower!

If any of you out there have planned or are in the process of planning a wedding, you know all too well that it can quickly become STRESSFUL!

Planning a Bridal Shower is just another thing on the seemingly never ending to-do list and it wasn't too long ago that I was scrambling to make sure everything would be PERFECT for my own shower.  

STOP!

If I can give you one piece of advice for anything wedding related it is that not everything is going to be perfect and exactly the way you want it.  If you can accept that very early on in the planning process, you will enjoy wedding planning much, much more and save yourself a lot of sleepless nights and unwanted breakouts.

Okay....now back to the shower! 

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TIP #1

 

RECRUIT HELP!

(What else are sisters for??)

My first tip is to ASK FOR HELP!  I am the queen of multitasking and sometimes to a fault.  I am always eager to take on a lot of projects at once and sometimes I find myself overwhelmed.  With your Bridal Shower especially, try to let go and hand the majority of the planning over to someone else.  Luckily, I have 3 sisters and a lot of amazing friends who were willing to help out to plan my shower.  

Pick ONE person to be in charge, however...with wedding planning, its very easy to get too many "cooks in the kitchen".  I gave my sister Jess the task of spearheading the operation and she did an AMAZING job.

She made sure to ask me about the types of things I wanted at my shower, but handled all of the nitty gritty details herself and also recruited my other sisters and close friends to help with planning various aspects of the party. 

Dont forget, this is still YOUR BRIDAL SHOWER so if you know there is something you absolutely WANT or DON'T WANT, speak up!  I knew I wanted a giant charcuterie board as part of my shower and I was adamant about relaying that throughout the process.  I also knew I didn't want cheesy party games, so I made sure that Jess knew all of these things early on in the planning process. 


TIP #2

SECURE YOUR VENUE & SEND INVITES EARLY

THE VENUE

There is nothing worse than knowing exactly where you want to host your shower and then finding out it is unavailable! With all things wedding, make sure you call to secure any venue early on, especially if you are planning any event from mid-spring through fall! 

Also, don't think you need to spend $$$$ to get a fancy venue.  Chances are, you are already paying a pretty penny for your actual wedding day, so planning your shower or engagement party at your home or the home of someone you know, a park, etc., is a great option.  I personally LOVE hosting in a home because you don't have to deal with food or drink minimums (also budget busters) or guarantee a certain amount of people.  The atmosphere also tends to be a bit more laid back and you don't have a bunch of restrictions on decorating or making things exactly how you want them!

Decor - You can do a lot with the space that you have!  Balloons, banners, and fresh flowers can make any space go from blah to BAM! AMAZING!  For my shower, we utilized the pool and blew up giant balloons to float as well as a big INFLATABLE RING and SWANDA.  It gave an otherwise normal pool, a pop of fun! 

Chairs/Tents - if you know you will need chairs or any other types of materials that require a rental company, make sure you get those early as well.  Again, these companies book quickly during the busy season.  I used these Garden Style Chairs that run about $3.00 a piece to rent.  You can find all sorts of different chairs out there to fit your theme and budget!

THE INVITES 

Another thing to make sure you get done and sent out early are your invitations.  Remember, if you are having a summer Bridal Shower, people plan vacations, graduations, and have other events pretty frequently.  Make sure that once you've secured a date, you send those invites out ASAP!  I would say at least 1 month in advance, but I always err on the side of caution and do a 1.5-2 months, depending on the time of year.

Invites are another thing you don't need to break the bank for!  You can easily create invites from free online templates or even pay a few dollars on sites like Etsy to download a fully created invitation that you just print yourself at a place like Staples or FedEx.  If you (or someone in your group of those you've enlisted to help) are somewhat creative, I say go for making your own!  We created the bridal shower invites from on online template and used this amazing Heidi Swapp Minc Foil Machine to add a touch of glam to the invitations.  It was a great investment because we ended up using it for the wedding invites too!


TIP #3 - The Food

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As I mentioned earlier, I knew early on in the planning process that I wanted to have an AMAZING charcuterie board for my shower.  After all, any charcuterie board and a nice glass of vino are two of my most favorite things in the entire world.

I got the inspiration for the charcuterie "grazing" table from none other than Pinterest and my sister and aunt really helped to execute it perfectly!  There were so many varieties of Italian meats and various cheeses as well as fresh fruit and also some desserts.  I had about 20 people at my shower and this table was more than enough food to keep everyone happy.  You don't need to go crazy with planning an all out sit down event for a shower..I actually find those a bit annoying as a guest because its much harder to mingle and socialize.  Having some good food and lots of wine and champagne kept my guests happy throughout the shower.

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I mean seriously.....

How good does this look?! 

(Obviously I was too busy eating it to get great pics)


TIP # 4

Party Games & Entertainment

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Okay so I usually HATE party games.  I don't know why, but I've never liked them and I really didn't want to have any at my shower.  BUT, my sisters and friends assured me that they wouldn't plan anything too painful!

I actually ended up LOVING what we did at the shower in lieu of "games".  There were scratch off lotto tickets for everyone and some revealed that a guest had won a prize..easy enough!  They also planned to have everyone decorate a mug instead of wrapping each other in toilet paper, which I was totally fine with.  There were easy to follow directions, as well as a ton of different patterns and sayings for everyone to customize their mug with.  

Decorating the mugs allowed for everyone to continue to enjoy themselves, socialize, and also create something customized that they could take home as a favor - win, win!

The mugs ended up being so cute!  Obviously I need to touch mine up a bit, but you get the picture.

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Wine and Frenchies... really all I need in life 

 


TIP #5

HAVE FUN!

This might seem like an obvious one, but I mean it, HAVE FUN!

It is really easy to get caught up in all of the things going on and wanting to make sure everything is perfect for everything wedding related, but take a step back and just try to enjoy the moment!

All of the people around you on your Bridal Shower day are there to celebrate YOU.  Try to relax and take in all of the love and happiness surrounding you on that day.

I guarantee you will have a ton of laughs and it will be a day to remember! 

Thanks so much for checking out this post!  I wish you the best of luck with planning your Bridal Shower or next event.

For any questions, feel free to email me at jamie@ahintofgoldblog.com or reach out on Instagram