Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Finest Expressions – How a dream become a beautiful reality

A month after my son was born, my sister and I opened our online store called Finest Expressions – Designer Gifts & Gift Baskets. It seemed like I had given birth to one baby but ended up with twins! We wanted to design gifts that were not only beautiful to look at but were practical for the recipients. It was then that we set out to channel our creativity through designing unique baby and wedding gifts for the North American market.

We started by offering beautiful and trendy gifts such as our baby diaper cakes, clothing bouquets, sock bouquets and gift baskets. We initially started with three designs of diaper cakes and a lot of the other items. However, within a couple of months we realized that our diaper cakes were our bestsellers. We were also getting quite a few requests for custom designs. So we started focusing more on our diaper cakes and adding to the category on regular basis.

We decided to start our wedding favours line when a stressed bride asked us to design distinctive favours for her wedding. We created our now signature product, the mini-chocolate bouquets. Since then we have designed a beautiful line of wedding favours along with DIY kits that make it fast and easy for brides to put together their own favours.

We understand that gift giving is an important and special part of life. Our goal is to create baby & wedding gifts that are not only useful today but also remembered for many years to come. We also custom design gifts to suit our clients’ theme selection and budget. We absolutely love what we do and enjoy everyday we spend creating exceptionally beautiful and useful gifts for our clients.

Last month was our first year anniversary and above is a picture of our very first baby gift basket. We wanted to share it with you and thank you for making our dream a reality. :)

Thank you,

Zakia

Co-founder, Finest Expressions – Designer Gifts & Gift Baskets

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Bridal Shower Basics


Bridal showers have become an important part of wedding traditions. Initially the concept of bridal showers started when women chose to marry men who were for whatever reason deemed ‘unsuitable’ as partners by their families. For this reason the families decided to hold back their dowries. This is when the engaged couples’ friends got together to give them household items that helped to set-up their new home. What a wonderful way to support the new couple as they start their lives together!

Usually the bridesmaids throw the bridal shower with the maid of honour taking the lead in planning the event. Traditionally, it’s frowned upon for the bride’s immediate family to throw the bridal shower. However, in situations where the bride doesn’t have anyone else who can throw her the shower, family members can step in to be the host.

Bridal showers are usually held 1-2 months before the wedding. Besides the family and friends of the bride, some family members of the groom are also invited. Of course there is no one in particular that should not be invited to the shower. However, anyone who is invited should be invited to the wedding as well.

Bridal showers are usually an afternoon event. The menu can be snacks, finger foods and other simple appetizers. Light lunch menus could include small sandwiches, pastries or simple salads.

As a hostess of a bridal shower, you should keep the following tips in mind:

Set a budget: It is very easy to get carried away when organizing such a fun event but you have to keep a budget in mind. Setting the budget from the start will be incredible helpful in deciding who to invite, choosing the venue and selecting the menu items.

Involve the bride-to-be: If it is not a surprise shower, always involve the bride-to-be in finalizing the guest list and even choosing the theme. It is her special day, so you want to make sure that you have all the important people in her life present.

Keep a checklist: Prepare a checklist to plan the shower so you don’t miss any steps. There are loads of checklists on the web that you can use as a template and customize it according to your preference.

Get help: Involve the other bridesmaids and enlist their help. The honour of becoming bridesmaids comes with its set of responsibilities. Helping with the bridal shower is one of them!

Don’t forget the bridal shower favours to give to your guests as a thank you for being part of your event.

The most important rule is for the bride, the guests and yourself to enjoy this celebration of the upcoming wedding. So plan, be organized and have fun!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Finest Expressions Gift Tag


One-Up Design (our favorite design team!) have created these beautiful gift tags for us to include with our baby gifts. They are adorable and have ample space to include your loving messages to the recipients.

How cute!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

New Diaper Cakes Added!


We have added some beautiful designs to our diaper cakes selection so do check it out!

The selection includes different designs for single tier and 4 tier cakes as well as new designs for Jungle Safari and Princess diaper cakes.

There is also a new addition to the Baby Blossoms family – introducing Sweet Baby Blossom!

Photographs also available with tags detailing the contents on Flickr.com.



Friday, October 10, 2008

What are Diaper Cakes?


Diaper cakes are a fairly new concept in North America so we often get asked the question – What are diaper cakes?

Diaper cakes are the newest rage at baby showers and are quickly topping the ‘favorite new baby gifts’ list. They are non-edible cakes made out of diapers in 1,2, 3 or more tiers. They are then decorated with baby products such as clothing, receiving blankets, wash clothes, plush toys and bath products. Simple designs are also available where the plain cake is decorated with flowers and ribbons. This makes an excellent gift for moms who already have children since they probably have most of the baby items.

The uniqueness of presenting a couple with a diaper cake is that it can be a beautiful part of your baby shower décor and a gift the parents can enjoy after the baby is born. If you don’t want to pick a pre-designed diaper cake, you can customize them using your theme, color, size and budget.

Be sure to view our diaper cake section for more information.

Friday, October 3, 2008

The Golden Collection - Wedding Favours

Our Golden Collection is an amazing array of wedding favours in warm gold, burgundy and brown shades. It’s a classic choice for a fall or winter wedding. Choose from a variety of styles including satin sachets, bombonieres and delectable chocolate bouquets.

Finest Expressions