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Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager Engagement Date: February 10, 2007 Wedding Date: September, 2008 Blogging Since: December 7, 2007 Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
About Mrs. Cupcake

All photos below by The Wiebners unless otherwise noted. We purchased a disc of all unedited images from our wedding day, so some post-processing has been done by me for the purpose of sharing the photos with you. Click on any photo to enlarge.

As the clock was nearing 7:00, the catering manager grabbed Mr. Cupcake, me, and our parents for a sneak peek at the transformed ballroom before the doors opened for our guests. I think I actually gasped when I saw how beautiful it looked. Every little detail had finally fallen into place, and the result was divine!

Here’s a little before and after….

BEFORE | The Desmond’s ballroom with fairly standard decor (photo from their website):

AFTER | All set up for our reception:

These photos were taken before our guests were seated (obviously!) so the lights were turned up a bit more than they would eventually be… but even so, everything just twinkled and looked so lovely!

The teal chair sashes and napkins really added the perfect pop of color. The chair covers were, fortunately, included with our package since The Desmond owns their own and doesn’t have to rent them from an outside vendor, so we splurged for the addition of the sashes. I am so glad we did.

The table settings looked exactly as I had pictured, complete with the silver leaf acrylic chargers I had purchased in bulk from Save on Crafts and the menus I created sitting on top of each charger, folded inside a teal napkin.

The menus were a last-minute project I put together the week before the wedding — I had collected so many pictures of menus I loved, but I had hemmed and hawed for too long over what I was actually going to do… so I finally just sat down and designed them. I used the silhouette monogram that you also saw on our drink menus in my last post, and layered the menus on top of various teal and moss green patterns (the same that I used for our little blank book place cards). I ended up loving the result.

We had three centerpiece designs that alternated from table-to-table. They all incorporated the beautiful cut glass votives that we (mostly my MIL) had been collecting for the last year. It’s amazing how one idea found ages ago on a blog ended up shaping our whole reception space! Wade at Blue Moon had created the perfect floral arrangements to accent the cut glass.

{ photo by SIL Cupcake }

{ photo by SIL Cupcake }

One of my favorite extra little touches were all the candles on the mantle of the fireplace.

{ photo by SIL Cupcake }

I also made tented table numbers for each table (we had long ago given up trying to come up with creative names for each table, because there just isn’t 18 of anything that relates to us that is interesting enough for table names!). Again I incorporated the various teal and moss green patterns, so each table number looked a little different. You may remember the below pattern from our invitation envelope liners.

Another sweet little pop of color was added by the strawberries on each guest’s champagne glass. (They were sweet and yummy, too!)

Our toasting glasses were the vintage coupe glasses I found at a secondhand shop.

By far, the most delicious detail was our amazing cake from Sweet Jazmine’s. It looked even more spectacular than I could have imagined (and I couldn’t wait to put a knife to that thing and take a giant bite!)

The cake stand we had provided was not quite big enough for the bottom tier of the cake, but that was okay — they sat the cake and its platform right on top of the cake plate, and we still got that added height that we were looking for.

Some scatter crystals that I got on sale from Smith & Hawken were also added to the cake table for a little extra sparkle.

{ photo by SIL Cupcake}

{ photo by SIL Cupcake}

Mr. C and I were mesmerized by the fondant-covered creation. (And about ready to dive right in since we didn’t get our hands on many hors d’oeuvres!)

Last, but not least, were the “Just” and “Married” chair signs I had created for my new hubby and me. I had seen lots of “Mr.” and “Mrs.” chair signs floating around the interwebs, but I thought I’d do something a little different. I used some silver and teal cardstock and some glittery letters I picked up at Michaels, and voila — chair signs! They were a fun little bonus surprise for anyone who walked behind us that evening. :)


Up next: let’s get this reception show on the road!

Previously in our wedding recaps:
The Eve of Our Big Day: The Rehearsal Dinner
Love is All About “We”: Getting Gorgeous
Love is All About “We”: The Dress!
Love is All About “We”: The Guys Get Sexy

Love is All About “We”: The First Look
Love is All About “We”: Our Entourage
Love is All About “We”: Almost Time
Love is All About “We”: We Do!
Love is All About “We”: Ready for Our Close-Up
Love is All About “We”: Cocktails, Anyone?

Tags: , |   Link for this post | Share this post: Love is All About “We”: Ballroom Sneak Peek      
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43 Responses to “Love is All About “We”: Ballroom Sneak Peek”

1.
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Bee
Miss Taffy (message)  2,508 posts, Sugar bee

I love this post! Your cake is so beautiful, and I have been wanting to do a just married sign… yours is super cute! The before and after pictures are like night and day with all of your beautiful details!

 
2.
Steph921
Member
Steph921 (message)  189 posts, Blushing bee

Divine! The teal accents looked perfect. So elegant with fun details like the strawberries and Just Married signs. Your cake looks amazing!

 
3.
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Bee
Mrs. Corn (message)  1,010 posts, Bumble bee

Ok…so here’s my dumb question of the day…

How did you cut the cake without it tipping over?

 
4.
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Bee
Miss Ballet Flat (message)  641 posts, Busy bee

Wow! I’m really loving the teal pops of color in there! Absolutely gorgeous cake too!! They have serious fondant skills!

 
5.
Miss Deviled Egg
Bee
Miss Deviled Egg (message)  858 posts, Busy bee

I love your wedding! All of the details are just too perfect. You did an amazing job, Mrs. Cupcake!

 
6.
purpleHaze79
Member
purpleHaze79 (message)  875 posts, Busy bee

Love the “Just” “Married” on the backs of your chairs! The details are amazing! :D

 
7.
Vic004
Member
Vic004 (message)  780 posts, Busy bee

I love your table centerpieces. Did you diy your candles? I love the glass and the candles together and your fireplace too. Your wedding is my most favorite because your taste is similar to what I like. I love your chair signs, I hope you don’t mind me copying. And your toasting glasses are so awesome! I am off to the thrift store today!

 
8.
JennyBryde
Member
JennyBryde (message)  1,148 posts, Bumble bee

Painfully gorgeous! Painful because my jaw hit the floor hard and I slapped myself. :)

So lovely!

 
9.
Emilydll
Member
Emilydll (message)  428 posts, Helper bee

You’re details are so stunning! :)

 
10.
Mrs. Tiramisu
Bee
Mrs. Tiramisu (message)  868 posts, Busy bee

What a transformation! I love all the patterned paper… did you design those yourself or find them somewhere?

 
11.
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Guest
bgcrispin

Have been loving these re-caps! Thank you for sharing! Any chance you’ll be selling those candle center pieces? (I’m a Philly bride too - looking forward to the meet up!)

 
12.
krissybee
Member
krissybee (message)  871 posts, Busy bee

again, details are amazing!! i love the candles on the mantle!!! question: who did you and your hubby sit with at dinner?? both your parents? and where did your bridal party sit?

 
13.
sgarrison2
Member
sgarrison2 (message)  187 posts, Blushing bee

I am beyond excited about these pictures! I love your expression in the picture where you’re looking at the cake. Your color palette and paper goods are perfection. Keep the pictures coming!

 
14.
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Bee
Miss Bruschetta (message)  5,553 posts, Bee Keeper

The teal accents really pop — and it all looks great!

 
15.
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Bee
Miss Perfume (message)  1,572 posts, Bumble bee

Love these pictures! Beautiful cake and love every detail!

 
16.
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Bee
Mrs. Flamingo (message)  1,265 posts, Bumble bee

Awesome details!!!

 
17.
mrspaetz
Member
mrspaetz (message)  1,704 posts, Bumble bee

SO PERFECT! you have it down to the last detail, CupCake! Beautiful beyond words, I. am. impressed!

 
18.
flbeachbride
Member
flbeachbride (message)  322 posts, Helper bee

Your wedding is a dream in details and having pulled everything together. Looks beautiful!!

 
19.
driftslikesmoke
Hostess
driftslikesmoke (message)  1,220 posts, Bumble bee

I love your teal and moss cardstock! Where did you get it? I’d love to use something similar to back my invites and save the dates!

 
20.
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Bee
Miss Joey (message)  822 posts, Busy bee

I love the details!

 
21.
MightySapphire
Hostess
MightySapphire (message)  2,608 posts, Sugar bee

Those signs are too cute!!

 
22.
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Bee
Miss Dew Drop (message)  247 posts, Helper bee

I love your Just Married signs. What a great idea!

 
23.
missbean
Member
missbean (message)  528 posts, Busy bee

Wow! All your details are so beautiful and amazing!

 
24.
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Guest
RedRedOrange

Mrs. Cupcake, I love all of your paper goods!
I am getting married in the Philly area, and was wondering if you guys print everything in-house or if you would mind sharing who you use for your printing? I am designing my own invites, but just moved here from California and would appreciate any resource recommendations! Finding a new printer capable of doing a good job is so nerve wracking!

Thanks :)

 
25.
frenchbulldog
Bee
frenchbulldog (message)  5,956 posts, Bee Keeper

I love your “Just” and “Married” sign, such a fun twist on the “Mr” & “Mrs” ones :)

 
26.
Lillindy
Hostess
Lillindy (message)  3,872 posts, Honey bee

Gosh, I’m so in love with all your details Mrs. Cupcake…they are just stunning!

 
27.
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Bee
Miss Beagle (message)  1,021 posts, Bumble bee

I loooove that cake! Everything looks so perfect!

 
28.
rachelpete
Member
rachelpete (message)  78 posts, Worker bee

so many incredible details! Did you gocco all the menus?

 
29.
LzzNYC
Member
LzzNYC (message)  877 posts, Busy bee

LOVE what you did to that room!!! Looks so magical! Love the chairs!

 
30.
harmonyeee
Member
harmonyeee (message)  201 posts, Helper bee

wow, i love your wedding details. we are getting our cupcakes from Sweet Jazmine’s — now I’m REALLY excited!

 
31.
Mrs. Cupcake
Bee
Mrs. Cupcake (message)  1,159 posts, Bumble bee

Thank you, everyone! I can’t wait to show you the rest of the reception!

@Mrs. Corn: To be honest, I have no idea! I thought the same thing when I saw the photos…. I guess it was all weighted enough that it was okay? I will let you know if I find out otherwise!

@Vic004: I had originally planned to pour all the wax myself, but when we accumulated over 200 pieces of my glass, my mom offered to pay someone to do it (for the sake of my sanity). Thank goodness for that idea! The sales manager we had worked with at the Desmond also happens to have his own soy candle business on the side, so we hired him to do it! Worked out perfectly.

@Mrs. Tiramisu: I designed some of the patterns, but most were from iStock that I had accumulated over a few years as a designer :-) I’m sure there are other free clip art options out there with vector patterns! I just made everything our colors.

@bgcrispin: several of the candles have already gone to family members and friends and I’m afraid my mom and I are keeping the rest :-) They have become a really pretty accent to scatter around our respective homes! I will let you know if we change our minds, though :-)

@krissybee: We sat with all of our parents and my brother/sister-in-law — the rest of the bridal party sat amongst our guests (we wanted everyone to be able to sit with their significant others but didn’t have room at a head table for everyone plus their SO). It worked out great this way! I’ll have more photos of our head table in upcoming posts.

@driftslikesmoke: I printed all of the teal and green patterns on Stardream Quartz cover weight stock. The patterns were some that I made and some that I had collected over time from iStockphoto.com (for various design projects I have worked on over the years).

@RedRedOrange: At my job we design and print all of our work in-house; however we’re also in the process of opening a sister-company that focuses on printing letterpress pieces for outside designers (since we currently only print our own work)…. if you’re interested email ideas@twopaperdolls.com :-)

@rachelpete: I didn’t want to drive myself crazy with any last-minute Gocco projects, so I took the easy way out and printed the menus on a laser printer at work! Much faster and less work for me :-)

 
32.
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Bee
Mrs. Spring Roll (message)  718 posts, Busy bee

All of your details are stunning!

 
33.
leenmachine
Member
leenmachine (message)  258 posts, Helper bee

Absolutely beautiful! I love the just married signs! Perfect touch!

 
34.
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Member
joreo112 (message)  6 posts, Newbee

I love the table numbers! What font did you use?

 
35.
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Bee
Miss Duckling (message)  1,348 posts, Bumble bee

I just love your attention to detail! The pop of teal is amazing and completely transformed the space and made it yours. Those candles are great and are the perfect thing to reuse in your home!

 
36.
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Bee
Miss Labrador (message)  1,315 posts, Bumble bee

I love the cake! Your wedding is one of those “I wish I could have been a fly on the wall” type of moments! You and Mr. Cupcake just look like cool people!

 
37.
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Bee
Mrs. Hot Cocoa (message)  1,685 posts, Bumble bee

I might have licked that cake through my computer screen. ;-P

 
38.
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Member
tangt16 (message)  98 posts, Worker bee

omg. I love it!!! The chair covers, sashes and strawberry really add so much to the room. Huge transformation. The cake really looks so modern, and yet classic. Its gorgeous. I love the scattered crystals around the cake too. The just married signs look really great and professional.

 
39.
Mrs. Cupcake
Bee
Mrs. Cupcake (message)  1,159 posts, Bumble bee

@joreo112: The font I used for the table numbers is called Modern No. 20. I stylized the “No.” part to look somewhat vintage-esque with the dot under the “O” :-)

@Miss Labrador: Thank you! We like to pretend that we are pretty cool, hehe.

@Mrs. Hot Cocoa: Might have? Come on now, HC…. fess up!

 
40.
honeymyheart
Member
honeymyheart (message)  757 posts, Busy bee

wow your details are so amazing. i love how the candles are displayed and the color of the bows around each chair. your ‘just married’ chairs are too amazing :)

 
41.
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Member
doublemint921 (message)  489 posts, Helper bee

The more you share about your wedding the more I love it! I just love the bright colors and how everything came together so beautifully. I like all your little twists on tradition. It seems to have made the day just that much more special! :)

 
42.
Guest Icon
Guest
Nicole

I looove your details. I was wondering if you will be selling the silver chargers. I really want to rent but its going to run me about $5 each and at 150 people that’s yikes!!!

Please let me know. Thanks!!!

 
43.
Mrs. Cupcake
Bee
Mrs. Cupcake (message)  1,159 posts, Bumble bee

@Nicole: I’m sorry, I sold the chargers through the Weddingbee Classifieds shortly after our wedding. But if renting would run you $5 a piece, you’d still be better off ordering them from Save-on-Crafts and selling them to a local bride afterwards! (I was only willing to sell mine locally b/c shipping would have been a nightmare and a huge expense for the buyer). Or maybe you can find another bride in your area who would go 50-50 with you if your weddings are at different times?

 


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Mrs. Cupcake
Mrs. Cupcake Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager Engagement Date: February 10, 2007 Wedding Date: September, 2008 Blogging Since: December 7, 2007 Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
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