Where you invited to a black tie at our downtown Dallas wedding venue? For men it’s pretty easy, they just need to wear a black tux and tie, for women it’s a little different. Here are some tips for what to wear as a guest to that upcoming black tie wedding.

Bold Patterns

At a black tie affair a bold statement piece or interesting patterned dress is appropriate for almost all seasons. As far as patterns go florals and stripes are a safe bet. But you can also choose a solid color with a bold statement piece of jewelry or headpiece.

Sequin Shimmer

Black tie is all about the glamour. Since it’s a more formal affair wearing a formal floor-length gown or a short, dressy cocktail dress sequined dress creates a classy and sophisticated look.

Classic Black

There’s a timelessness to a little black dress. Elevate your look with statement earrings or necklace or a pop of color from a wrap during the cooler months.

Stylish Red

Similar to the LBD, red is a classic formal wear color. A gorgeous floor-length gown is perfect for a black tie wedding. Complete the look with a statement clutch with sequins or gold details.

If you’re planning a Dallas wedding then you’re probably thinking about finding that perfect dress and the in-depth search required to find it. If the idea of going from store to store stresses you out, consider this tips for finding your dream wedding dress from the comfort of your home.

Find Online Companies with Try on Options

Companies such as Floravere or BHLVD send you as many sample styles as you wish for free with any purchase. Then once you choose one you can send back the rest and customize the one to fit you.

Order and Try On at Home

Take advantage of big box stores’ free shipping and free returns online policy. Places like David’s Bridal and Nordstrom’s Wedding Suite allows you to purchase a couple of dresses at a time to try on. So get your bridal party together and start shopping at home.

Make a Day Out of It

Once your dresses arrive, ask your friends over for some mimosas, pizza and a good time. Make sure you have the shoes, undergarments, and jewelry your might want to wear with your dress. You’ll also want a full length mirror and to arrange the seating so that there’s lots of room to move around.

Our downtown event venue in Dallas has seen some beautiful escort card display designs. There are lots of possibilities when it comes to escort card displays but what makes it unique and intimate is how it relates to you as a couple. Here are a couple tips for creating a killer escort card display.

Organize names alphabetically

Though it might seem like a good idea to order them by table number most guests won’t be able to find their names with this arrangement. Ordering them in alphabetical order makes it easier to find. You can also group couples together so it’s easier for them to find their spot together.

Make the display intuitive

Make you display easy to interact with to avoid traffic jams. Make instructions clear on how to use the display to find their seat. If you want your guests to simply look for their number and not take the escort card have someone stand by and tell them or a sign that gives instructions. Same goes for if they are suppose to take them to their seats.

The simplest of displays are the most effective. If a display looks overly complicated, guests may skip it entirely and then be lost as to wear to sit or sit in some else’s spot.

Envision the overall impact

An escort display is a great way to showcase the overall aesthetic of your wedding. You want something eye-catching that will draw guests to interact with it and see it when they first arrive to your reception.

Keep it personal

As you search for ideas for your display, take inspiration from your love story. Do you and your fiancé love to be crafty? Maybe write each guests name on a leaf with a paint pen. Do you both love to travel? Have a display of luggage tags with names and tables numbers for each guest. Get creative with it.

Best Dallas Wedding Vendors

When looking for the best Dallas wedding vendors, The Empire Room has worked with quite a few wedding photographers. Here are so pro tips for selecting one.

Look for Unique Skills

Look for how the photographer edits, what camera they use or their overall style. You’ll want to see how they handle candid vs staged photos, outdoor vs indoor and day time vs night photography.

Explore the photographer’s website to get a feel for different angles, times of day, subjects, and more. You may love their day photography but find that their night photography is not your style. If you can’t find a certain aspect of their photography on their website just ask them for a sample.

Ask the Right Questions 

Work with photographer and coordinator to create a timeline. Making sure you have enough time in the day for photographing each of the days events is important. It’s also important to mention what particular shots you want. You don’t need to provide a detailed list of every shot you want. However, your photographer might not know that you want a photograph of your grandmothers ring next to yours unless you say so.

Being Able to Step Back

Ultimately, you want have the ability to step back and enjoy your wedding day and trust your photographer to capture key moments. Make sure that when choosing a photographer you feel like you don’t have to call the shots and can trust their ability to capture the magic of your big day.

There’s a stereotype among Dallas weddings that bachelorette parties have to involve innuendos, bad decisions and a major hangover the next day. While there’s nothing wrong with indulging, there are plenty of ways to have fun without having regrets the day after.

Exploring a new Area of Town

Have you lived in Dallas your whole life and never explored the museums of downtown and uptown? Now’s your chance to experience your city along side you besties and discover a piece of the city your never knew existed.

Blooms + Bridesmaids

Plan on doing DIY bouquet arrangements? Why not learn how to arrange them at a floral workshops. Simply contact your local flower shop or florist and see if they offer workshops.

Learn a new Skill with Your Ladies

Have you always wanted to learn a certain skill but never got around to it? With your bachelorette party in toe now is as good a time as ever to seize the moment. Learning something new is a great bonding experience and who knows you might be putting that new calligraphy skill to use in a couple months.

Beach Vibes with Your Girls

Whether you take a trip to the beach of just go out to a pool on the roof of a skyscraper for some rays. Having a bachelorette near the water is a fun summer party – just remember to wear sunscreen!

Celebrate Concert-Style

Looking to dance the night away with your bridal party but the club isn’t your scene? Opt to go see your favorite band in concert and you’ll have a truly memorable party.

Dallas Wedding

Going to a Dallas wedding this summer? Here are 4 great budget-friendly bridal shower gifts to give your bride-to-be. They are sure to wow while still being cost effective.

Lingerie

Lingerie is not just relegated to bachelorette parties anymore, it can also make a thoughtful gift for the bride-to-be if she’s looking for something to wear for her honey moon or wedding night. Even when you have to stick to a budget, there are wide variety of quality bridal lingerie in various price-points. Start with the sales section as you never know what sort of gems you may find.

Aromatherapy

This goes for any scented items from candles to bath bombs. You can even make the bride her own essential oils kit to make her own custom scents for calming the pre-wedding jitters on the big day or a relaxing evening at home after the festivities.

Personalized Home Goods

With the invention of Etsy, it’s easier than ever to find custom made home goods for the bride’s future home. Getting her initials or wedding date engraved on cutlery, a special dish, or other home furnishings would be a great way to help kickstart personalizing her new home.

Customized Clothing

In the same vein, have fun by giving the bride a custom robe, t-shirt, or jacket. Maybe everyone in the bridal party wears a similar t-shirt for getting ready on the big day. Or maybe she gets a robe with her new last name or initials on the back.

While there’s no way to completely eliminate stress on your big day, we have some tips on how to lessen the effect and  avoid stress on your wedding morning.

Get Ready Solo

Things can get a little crazy when you’re trying to get ready for your big day. One option is to schedule some alone time in to your day as you get ready and then bring in your wedding party later in the day for some bubbly and laughs.

Throw Traditions Out the Door

We all know the traditions of the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding and the one where couples stay in separate rooms the night before the wedding. But if breaking tradition makes you feel more at ease on your big day, then by all means stay the night with your hubby to be and have some one on one time the morning of your wedding – a great way to do this is a first look.

Practice Your Vows

Practice makes perfect, not really, but it does ease some of the pre-wedding jitters to rehearse what you’re going to say even if you don’t have custom vows. Hearing it out loud helps you when you’re up there saying it to your partner.

Delegate Everything Day-Of

There’s bound to be a slue of questions from your guests, vendors, etc. the day of. If you don’t have a planner, have a member of your bridal party, friend, or family member be the go to person for making last minute decisions and questions.

Have a Back Up Plan

Every couple worries about the weather on their big day. Most venues, ours included, can work with you to have a contingency plan in place for situations just like this. Rest easy knowing you’ve planned to the best of your ability should mother nature strike.

No matter how much planning goes in to it, there’s always going to be some wedding reception emergencies. However, over time we have come up with some tips and tricks for dealing with the most common wedding snafus.

When Red Wine Stains Your Dress

Ask the bartender for salt, club soda, water and a napkin with your next drink. Blot fresh stain to soak up excess liquid and sprinkle the stained area with salt. Then with club soda on a napkin dab lightly at the stain in a circular motion. Don’t rub, as rubbing spreads the wine and deepens the stain.

When You Can’t Find the Venue

First of all, don’t panic. The best thing to do is stop and call a friend who is also attending and see if they can help get you back on track. If you don’t have a friend, see if someone local can help point you in the right direction. The last thing you want to do is call or text the bride or groom and stress them out unnecessarily.

When Your Friend is Over-served

We all have that one friend that manages to have just one to many sometimes. Once your friend has gone from jovial to a public mess, do them a favor and call an Uber. If for some reason you can’t, we recommend taking them home and go back to the party – they’ll thank you later.

When You Lost Your Wedding Speech

With all the nerves of giving a speech you’ve lost your notes – take a deep breath and start typing out what you remember on your phone. If you still feel like it’s lacking, ask the rest of the wedding party for their favorite memories with the bride and groom. End by raising a glass to the couple and wishing them lots of love for years to come. There you have it, no one will ever know you forgot your notes.