Linking Smells to your Wedding Day Forever!

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The Idea

Whether you know it or not, we try so hard to capture our wedding day for eternity. As one of the most happiest and true days of our lives; we have photo’s and video’s and try to our upmost best to keep hold of those feelings, and keep it as close as we can to our hearts.

Never underestimate the human brain when it comes to doing its job. 

The Science

Scents have the ability to trigger memories through the ‘olfactory bulb’ which is closely associated with the memory and feeling part of the brain. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘emotional brain’.  The olfactory bulb has access to the Amygdala, which processes emotion, and the Hippocampus, which is responsible for associative learning. However these cannot just trigger memories, there must be some type of conditioned responses. i.e. when you first smell a new scent, your brain links this to an event, a person, a thing or even a moment. There is an immediate association between the smell and a memory. Examples of this are the brains link between Chlorine and childhood memories of the swimming pool.

The Forever Bliss

Scents are all around us on our wedding day. There are the flowers, the smell of fresh cake, the three course meal that you could smell from outside the reception hall, the cologne of your groom as well as the body odour of those on the dance floor (no pun intended). If these scents are new to you, your brain will forge a link between them and your wedding day. So why not get a new perfume for yourself. Something that you can wear long after your wedding day and still feel the way you did on that special day.

Whatever scent of perfume or cologne you choose to use, remember that it will fill your needs of happiness and joy. It is something that you will find hard to explain at times but the way you feel inside makes it all so worth it.

Question Time!

Q. “My budget is very small but I want my guests to have the time of their lives! What do I do?” – Adelle, Wedding Date September 2010
A. Hi Adelle, firstly it is important for you as a couple to decide which part of the wedding is the most important aspect. Is it the Ceremony? Or is it the celebrating with friends and family at the Reception? This way you can divide your funds accordingly. If you are not particularly religious, have a small, intimate registry with a few close family and friends. And the Reception you can go wild!

However small your budget there is always a way to make your wedding one of a kind. Have a small party at home, get some family members to cook some food. Not everyone needs a DJ, a good ipod with a shuffle and a youngster hovering around it ensuring its correct functioning is all you need sometimes! It’s always good when you have some creative people around you or some great cooks or even a baker! They always come in handy!!

Facebook Too!!!

Not only can you find us roaming on Twitter, now we are taking over the world ... bit by bit .. to facebook.

  

Inspirational Board - Purple with a twist

Creative Centre Piece, Invitation, Lilies Bouquet, Wedding Cake, Bridal Gown, Table layout, Groom's Buttonhole, Coloured Cocktails, Bouquet

Brides should not be afraid of pushing the boundaries. If Queen Victoria could bring in the White bridal gown, why can't you bring in the Purple?!

Inspiration boards are great fun to make for the 'oh so creative' and great to look at for the creatively-impaired. They allow you to develop a theme from a starting idea, whether its the colour purple or a hobby for films!

Most brides have scrap books, where they jot down ideas and keep torn out magazine cuttings. There is so many ideas they don't really correlate into anything constructive - except a huge file that causes back ache to carry around. Whereas, the beautiful inspirational board does what it says in the title - it inspires you. Looking at it, is like picturing your wedding day. From the invitations that go out three-six months ahead of time to the moment you walk down the isle in that gorgeous purple velvet coloured dress; even the groom has a little bit of purple, so to not upstage the bride. You can smell the lilac, pastel and white coloured flower's as they surround you on the day. The cocktail reception where your guests are greeted with customised purple cocktails in coordination to your entire day. White and purple elegant table settings and the Cake!!!! My mouth waters in the thought!

Come on Brides! BE BRAVE!!!

Tips on Personalising your day

Unique Wedding themed Cocktail’s – Why not enforce the party mood with cocktails to match the theme of your wedding day. Experiment with your favourite cocktails infused with the colour theme of your wedding day.

Photo Booths and Video Booths – If you want to let your guests personalise their own messages to you, and if your budget allows you to, then what better way than letting them in these great booths. One of many ways of capturing and remembering the small joys that make a huge day worth while!

Pixpod offer photo booth hire with unlimited prints for 3 hours costing £600.00. For more details and prices visit www.pixpod.com/

Wedding Favours – Make them personal! Wedding favours are there to send your guests away with a little piece of your day. So think hard and get creative!

Butterfly Favour Box by Treasured Favours - Visit them at www.treasuredfavours.co.uk

Reception Table Names – One thing I love to change up is table names. Instead of your usual table numbers, mix it up a little. If you are known for your frequent trips to the cinema then name each table according to your favourite movies, and make the head table ‘Vue Cinema’ for example. Other examples are Greek Gods, Periodic Table chemicals, Fashion designers, Special Place names.

Incorporate your theme – If your theme is movies, have a popcorn machine, have some show reels of the couple that can be a main entertainment segment or be silent in the background much like a slideshow. If your theme is Monopoly, why not have a dance floor designed like the monopoly board and have monopoly memorabilia on the tables.

Rodeo King hires popcorn machines, candy floss machines and much more: £100 per machine for dry hire which includes delivery, setup and instruction in how to use the machine and ingredients etc. [www.rodeoking.biz]

Centre Pieces – One thing I love about walking into the reception hall is that the first thing that amazes my senses is the table centre pieces. Remember, your guests will most probably be staring at theses all evening – so go crazy! Extravagant, intricate, beautifully crafted centre pieces (dependant on the wedding theme of course) are the way to go. Even if your reception hall is simple, the abundance of tables and centre pieces creates depth and fills the room wonderfully.

PJR Wedding Cakes Continued ...

Flower Decoration on your Wedding Cake

Almost every beautiful wedding cake is complimented with a wonderful array of flowers and flower petals. Some wedding cakes will have a flower pattern embedded in the design, whilst others are serenaded in fresh, silk or sugar flowers.

From Left to Right: Fresh Flowers, Sugar Flowers and Silk Flowers

A few things you should know about flowers:

The 3 most popular types of flowers are Sugar, Silk and Fresh

Fresh Flowers

> Look vibrant and lively

> Very beautiful, fresh flowers have a certain charm about them

> May cost a little more and some cake makers will need to make a trip to their florist to find the right flowers, which may increase the cost. A good alternative is to ask your wedding planner/decorator to provide you with some extra flowers to serenade the cake with. This keeps the whole wedding theme in sync and can save on cost.

> It is always best to match the colour scheme of your wedding, which means you may not always find the perfect bouquet that is the style and colour you want (can depend on the season)

Sugar

> Sugar paste flowers are edible (for those with a bit of a sweet tooth)

> Cost less

> Completely customisable, designs and colours can be as extravagant as your imagination

> Does not always look realistic

Silk Flowers

> Look very realistic

> Longer lasting – couple sometimes retain for keepsake

> Can sometimes cost less than fresh flowers

> Can almost always match your colour scheme with so much variety in silk flowers

Think carefully about which type of flowers or decoration you include on your wedding cake. There are a number of options for the budget savvy bride!

For more amazing images of PJR Wedding Cakes and more information visit www.pjrweddingcakes.co.uk

Wedding Expert - Number Two - PJR Wedding Cakes

"Quality hand crafted cakes designed individually to complement your special day" - PJR Wedding Cakes

Amarjit from PJR takes us through what we should think about when it comes to our wedding cake and what questions to ask.

Some couples know exactly what type of wedding cake they want, how it looks, how it should taste and how much everybody is going to love it!

Even those couples have a few things to bear in mind before ordering their dream centre piece, some questions you may ask are:

How many guests are you expecting? You must tell your cake maker how many guests you will be catering for. When telling them how many, don’t forget to mention how your cake will be served, either as a main dessert or a side dessert. If it is a main dessert this means bigger portion sizes, thus more cake is needed! However if it will be served as a side dessert Asian wedding caterers serve other desserts which mean the cake portions may be a little less, hence less cake!

Thinking of eggless? Eggless cakes are very common, simply meaning no eggs were harmed in the manufacturing of your cake – also meaning the taste of your cake may be a little dry. It is not uncommon to lose moisture when using certain eggless mixes which is why it is important you TEST THE EGGLESS CAKE! Almost all cake makers offer a free consultation/testing, so take advantage and find a delicious tasting eggless cake.

Is marzipan an ingredient? Marzipan is that layer between the icing and the sponge, some love it, some hate it. It is used to keep the shape of a cake hard and solid. Try and avoid this because the main ingredient in marzipan is almonds, which will cause problems for any guests who are allergic to nuts.

Do you require a Halal wedding cake? Clients always ask – how can your cake be halal???  Well this simply means there is no animal product or bi-product used ANYWHERE in the cake. So ask your cake maker to be sure about the ingredients they use in their cake mix, the sugar paste/cream, the food colouring and even the oil they use to line their cake tins.

www.pjrweddingcakes.co.uk

Amarjit