At the recent St. Louis Wedding Award’s Banquet, the Coronado Ballroom was selected as the Best Wedding Venue in St. Louis. St. Louis Bride Magazine created a magical night in the Grand Hall of St. Louis Union Station with vintage tables designed by some of the top florists in St. Louis. We were so fortunate to sit at a Spring inspired table with garden enhancements created by Rachel McCalla and Amanda Hill of Lucky You Productions. My favorite part of the table was little iron birds scattered on the table and candles floating in mason jars against a backdrop of beautiful silk linen! I love a mixture of elements.
Kathy, Jaci and I decided to wear black with garnet red enhancements and there is a great photo of us holding our award. It was at this same time last year that I was the Inaugural Inductee into the St. Louis Wedding Professional Hall of Fame. What an honor after 25 years! It made me so proud that my dear friend and fellow wedding vendor Robert George was inducted this year. Robert is a national award winning photographer and his work has been seen around the world. He is such a special and talented man. Congratulations Robert! We were also so happy to have our Food and Beverage Director John McGuire with us. In the short time that John has been with us, he has made an incredible contribution to our organization and I feel as if I have known him forever.
So many wonderful things are happening at Steven Becker Fine Dining right now. We are getting ready to open our new wine bar – Vino Nadoz at the Boulevard…across from Crate and Barrel. It is chic, sophisticated and unique for the St. Louis market. Brides will enjoy having their bridal shower in Vino Nadoz and we already have some on the books! Wedding season has kicked off with stellar looks and stellar clients.
So cheers to Spring and to all our (and your) new beginnings!

Rob Schaefer
St. Louis Wedding Professional Hall of Fame Inductee

Although May, June, September and October are the prime times of the year to get married, St. Louis brides realize that remarkable weddings can happen all year long! Winter weddings in St. Louis are some of the most beautiful of the year. There is no time like winter to have an event. The biggest mistake I see is that many brides do not embrace the elements of winter and then plunk a June wedding look into the month of January. Weddings look silly and the menu seems strange when the components are more suited for a warm weather month. If you have a St. Louis winter wedding, embrace it fully and use the weather to enhance your experience.
Candlelight and firelight are natural enhancements and add an incredible amount of character to your reception. Luxurious fabrics such as velvets, heavy damasks, tapestry and fur compliment a winter story and have a beautiful hand (feel) to the touch. Frosty tones or winter drabs look stunning with all white flowers, crystals, frosted branches and artificial snow. Teal, Iris, Black, Steel, Cocoa, Garnet, Eggplant and Vanilla are some of my favorite winter tones. Beaded touches to the tables, the chairs and the wedding accessories give a much needed sparkle due to the lack of natural light. Wedding cakes can have a sugar snow effect, snowflakes, bling and heavy white chocolate curls to make them seasonal appropriate. Remember that if your budget does not allow specialty linens on all the dining tables, splurge and rent something magical and luxurious for the cake table! This will help you solidify your winter look. Winter flowers are much more than just using evergreens. Winter flowers have a heavier look and often have a monochromatic color story. On trick I have learned is to use greenery and flowers that have a matte or velvety finish. These also can be paired with gilded fruit such as pommegranantes, grapes or pears. Crystal strands and picks as well as frosted white, metallic or black branches add so much drama to the arrangement and table. Pair these with chunky pillar candles in pure white or ivory or multiple hanging votives and you create instant magic.
Consider carefully your wedding apparel choices. It is a dead giveaway that you planned your event in June when the bridesmaids are shivering in satin strapless and your wedding dress was in the Summer issue of a bridal magazine. Beautiful wraps, stoles, scarves, sleeves (as in the dress has some) make everything look seasonal appropriate. Even the accessories such as jewelry and shoes can make such an important impact. Maybe you don’t want your bridesmaids in velvet but a velvet shoe or incredible choker or velvet wrap can give a simple dress some seasonal flaire. And since gloves are making a huge come back, a matte finished glove really adds glamour to a winter event.
Flavors of the season are so extensive and fun. I love peppermint martinis, hot buttered rum, mulled cidars and rum punches. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger and hazelnut are wonderful tastes. Wedding cakes can be richer and more decadent with exciting flavors such as gingerbread and rum cake. First course options such as warm soups and pasta courses are unique and interesting. Various glazes and sauces give an instant winter feel to the standard beef tenderloin. Popcorn, cocoa, dessert crepes and grilled cheeses stations are popular seaonal favorites. Be creative!
If you want to be a winter bride, you will find a wealth of dates, locations, vendors and amazing selections available to you. Embrace the season and you will have a fairy-tale St. Louis bride event!
Rob Schaefer
St. Louis Wedding Professional Hall of Fame Inductee

I love Fall weddings and I love fun brides, and I love when a fun bride selects the wedding colors I personally love in the Fall. On October 2nd, 2010, I got all of that when Kristen chose the Coronado Ballroom for her beautiful wedding reception.

Kristen attended Saint Louis University and fell in love with the architecture and history of the campus. St. Xavier Church only made sense to host her and Brad’s wedding ceremony. To add the perfect reception venue, the couple toured and fell in love with the neighboring Coronado Ballroom’s elegance and design.

Kristen chose the beautiful tones of plum and gold and added hints of feathers and sparkles to enhance her look. The gold and plum tones flowed throughout the evening: from the custom-made plum organza linens sprinkled with glitter appliqués made by Jeff Bair at Grimm and Gorly, gold chiavari chairs, the plum signature drink poured and chilled through the custom martini luge provided by Ice Visions, gold tones in the custom wedding cake design by Steven Becker Fine Dining, to the gold rimmed chargers; her signature colors were abundant, but not overdone.

The couple wanted their guests to be pampered all evening and no detail was left unnoticed. Guests were impressed by the large branches which seating assignments dangled from with gold and amber toned crystals, the ink guests used to create a leaf by pressing their thumbprint on a tree painting as a unique alternative to a guestbook, the “Mr. and Mrs.” Sashes tied to the Bride and Groom’s chairs, the vibrant and impressive centerpieces by Grimm and Gorly, and of course the delectable dinner by Steven Becker Fine Dining.

Galaxy Red rocked the house and had all of the guests on the dance floor – that is, when they were not enjoying the late night snack of mini cheeseburgers and French fries, the couple’s favorite. Of course, Chris Croy Photography was there every step of the way, capturing every moment and detail.

Posted by Jaci Burgess, Director of Sales for Steven Becker Fine Dining and the Coronado Ballroom

View pictures on our Facebook page

After 26 years of wedding planning, I have seen quite a few engagement rings. St. Louis Brides have amazing rings and a whole new crop has popped up this year. It always tickles me to see the newly engaged couples walking in the doors of the Coronado Ballroom beaming and flashing the ring. Many St. Louis Brides ask me what my favorite ring style is and I am not sure if I have an answer…I guess that if I had to pick one, I would pick a 2.5 square cut diamond set in platinum with a matching wedding band of channel set square cut white and chocolate brown diamonds. But if I find true love and a big rock isn’t an option, I will be happy to wear my great grandfather’s art deco wedding ring with it’s tiny but brilliant diamond. It is a classic.
Many St. Louis Brides know that I value our historical wedding traditions and find many of our wedding customs sacred…the wedding cake dates to pre-Roman times and has been around for thousands of years. The flowers you choose in your bouquet should have meaning, and the style of china you select should reflect how you plan on entertaining as a couple. Wedding rings are one of the oldest symbols of love and commitment and be it simple or extravagant, to me it tells a story. We derive the term tying the knot from ancient history…it was believed that a man could control the spirit of a woman by tying cords around her made of braided grass. This evolved from the wrists, ankles and waist to around one finger…thus born a ring. It is believed that the vein in the third finger on the left hand, VENA AMORIS, leads directly to the heart. Even the stones in the ring have meaning and it was once an art and a statement to select a ring that spoke of your passion and fine qualities. Diamonds are precious and grant courage. Sapphires represent purity and are the color of the ocean and heaven. Emeralds symbolize faithfulness, immortality and youth and rubies represent the sun. The red fire of rubies insure health and guard the home. The rings of today are vastly different from the braided grass rings of our ancestors but I am sure that the significance could be no more important. Every St. Louis Bride likes to look down at her ring and see the promise of a beautiful wedding…hopefully a beautiful Coronado Ballroom wedding…and a future of possibilities. Whatever the size or style of your ring or wedding, I hope you find meaning in all the choices you make.
“Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now each of you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth for the other.
Now there is no loneliness;
now you are two persons but there is only
one life before you.”
-Apache Marriage Blessing

Rob Schaefer
Inaugural St. Louis Wedding Professional Hall of Fame Inductee