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Contributing Writer: Joanna Cali, The Westchester Wedding Guide

An Easter theme wedding is a wonderful celebration of love, life, birth and rebirth. Set the stage for your springtime wedding with shades of butter yellow, robin's egg blue, cream, pale green, pastel pink and lilac. Decorate and fragrance the air with tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, lilacs, lily of the valley and blue bells. Add to your theme with stunning Easter bonnets on bridesmaids and Easter baskets on the arms of flower girls.

Here are some ideas for favors that would compliment an Easter theme wedding:

Mini Easter Baskets

Buy inexpensive baskets at a craft shop or dollar store. If you can't find white ones, spray paint plain baskets with white paint. Fill with green or natural raffia and a selection of traditional Easter goodies like chocolate rabbits and eggs, hard boiled and dyed Easter eggs, and PEEPS™, jelly beans and M&Ms. Decorate with big bows in the colors of your wedding.

Marshmallow PEEPS™

PEEPS™ chicks and bunnies are available in yellow, pink, lavender, blue and white. Peeps also come in egg and heart shapes; they make a giant bunny in yellow, pink and lavender.

You can use a single giant PEEPS™ bunny for each favor, incorporate the small traditional PEEPS™ into your Easter mini basket favors, or create your own PEEPS™ place marker favor as follows:

PEEPS™ Place Marker Favor:

Decorate small terra cotta pots with paint, or simply write each guest's name on a pot with a gold paint pan. Fill the pots with jellybeans. Insert a Popsicle stick into each PEEPS™ chick or bunny, and plant it in the pot of jellybeans.

A Product of Just Born, PEEPS™ is the largest selling non-chocolate Easter candy. Just Born estimates that 700 million PEEPS™ are eaten at Easter, and produces over 1 billion a year.

If you are a fan of PEEPS™ humor, you may want to visit PEEPSResearch.org.

Stuffed Easter Toys

Buy a collection of small plush bunnies and chicks. Use blank business cards you can get at an office supply store to print your message to your guest. Hole punch each card and use a colored ribbon to attach it to the neck of each toy with a bow.

Blooming Paper Whites

Buy a collection of paper white narcissus bulbs for forcing and plant each in a small, decorated terra cotta pot. Keep them in a cool, dry, dark place until two weeks before the weddings. Then, plant them in moist potting soil and return to a cool (not cold), dark place until roots set - usually about a week. Once they have roots (you can test by gently tugging - if there's resistance, they've rooted), move them to a bright room. Keep them moist, but don't over water or let them sit in a puddle. Stop watering 2 days before the wedding. We've had great success with paper whites from White Flower Farm. Follow directions that accompany your bulbs if they differ from above.

Flower Bulbs

For an Easter wedding, choose bulbs that can be planted in the spring (not tulip, hyacinth or daffodil, which usually require fall planting). Dahlias (for sun) and tuberous Begonias (for shade) come in an amazing array of colors that you can coordinate with your wedding theme so they will remind your guests of your special day each time they enjoy their beauty.

Put one, three or five bulbs, depending on their size and your budget, into envelopes fashioned of burlap or tulle. Be sure to include a card with planting instructions including when to plant, sun or shade, and how deep to plant. You can print these from your computer on blank business cards, or write them on blank plant markers.

Engraved Plant Markers

Buy zinc or copper plant markers and an engraver. Engrave your names and wedding date on each. Wrap the "legs" in burlap and secure at the neck with raffia.

Zinc markers are available at Wayside Gardens in packets of 10 for $5.95, and their electric engraver is $24.95. They also have "big face" copper plant labels for $6.95 each. Search for "labels" on their site to find these items.

"Watch Our Love Grow" Favors

Buy a miniature watering can for each guest - we found them for as little as $0.80 each at Woodcrafter Discount Craft Supplies. Be sure the dimensions of the cans you choose allow for seed packets to fit inside. Put a packet of annual flower seeds in each - marigolds and zinnias are easy even for beginning gardeners to grow. Use ribbon or raffia to attach notes you can print from your computer onto blank business cards (hole punch notes to attach). Your note might read, "Love Grows Best with the Care of Family and Friends" or "Our Love Grows Stronger Every Day."

Customized M&M's in Easter Eggs

Buy plastic Easter eggs that can be opened to insert treats. Fill each with customized white, light blue and cream colored M&M's bearing your names. You can order the M&M's at the M&M's Brand Store. Buy a large white Easter basket and decorate with fabric and ribbons, fill it with the eggs and carry it with you at your reception to distribute the eggs to your guests.

Porcelain Keepsake Eggs

Porcelain keepsake eggs are available for under $2 (search that term in Google to find some). Fill each with a truffle or jellybeans.

Copyright 2005
The Westchester Wedding Guide

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Joanna Cali is the publisher of the Westchester Wedding Guide, an online bridal guide that offers articles, advice and tips on planning a wedding. She also owns a Web development and search engine optimization firm in Westchester, NY.
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